Obama appears to pursue an anti-American foreign policy.
That being said, the notion that an Islamic middle-eastern country could be converted to Jeffersonian/Lockian democratic principles is dubious at best.
Why don’t we protect US interests, support our supporters, punish our opponents, and let others enjoy the consequences which proceed from their belief systems? In the middle-east, all Islamic countries are ruled by despotic dictators, caliphs, or monarchs. So be it.
The dictators need to know that opposing US interests comes with a price, and supporting US interests makes things better. That’s as far as our foreign policy needs go.
Did the Bush people ever state this as their goal?
Who was claiming this?