Editor's Note: The Lou Frey Institute's Symposium THE FIRST 100 DAYS: POLICIES AND APPROACHES FOR THE NEW ADMINISTRATION was held April 15, 2009.

Dr. James Ludes of the American Security Project, and Member of the Obama Transition Team for Foreign Policy, believes that President Obama is not shrinking from the big international issues. Obama feels he was sent to Washington to govern and that is what he is going to do. President Obama wants to restore balance to U.S. foreign policy. He has suggested arms control and a zero nuclear weapon policy. He is using public speeches to foster international diplomacy. Dr. Ludes says that President Bush signed one arms control agreement in eight years and in his opinion it was a “dog.” President Obama believes he can accomplish more by tone and approach. He wants the U.S. to be respected, not loved. Dr. Ludes feels that the prior administration killed the U.S. Information Agency. This was the one agency helping us foster goodwill in countries worldwide. He agreed that it is too early to pass final judgment on President Obama and hopes that his combination of idealism and realism will get the job done. It is clear that President Obama is confident in himself and is not afraid of giving voice to those who feel differently. His normal approach is that he sees a problem, he tries to educate everybody, and then bring everybody together.

On the other hand, Ms. Mackenzie Eaglen with The Heritage Foundation feels that President Obama does not have a foreign policy and has let the Pentagon be out front. She feels that President Obama’s idea is to weaken the U.S. military, which is going to make it harder to be a global superpower. She is not wild about Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense. She feels that most of our allies are not contributing what they need to in NATO. They spend more money on their own defense needs. She points out that in Afghanistan one of the problems is that all the countries have their own separate rules as to what they are going to do. Some will only fight in some parts of the country; some countries won’t supply helicopters. In many cases when helicopters are supplied they can’t be flown after dark. Also, the problem is Afghanistan is a major political issue within NATO countries. She points to what happened when Spanish troops took casualties. It was a great negative for the government. Both of the speakers agreed that using the Navy to go after the Somalia pirates was like swatting flies with a two-by-four, just not a good use of our resources. Furthermore, the problem can’t be totally solved without going after the pirates on land, and the last thing we need is another land war in that part of the world. What is needed is an international effort. One of the biggest worries that no one is addressing is cyber warfare. This is something that we must deal with now, and we are not prepared.

Finally, I took 21 pages of notes which I have tried as best as possible to read, understand and put on paper for your review. My grandson Alex (A.C.) Carter and his friend Sarah Gruber attended the morning symposium session and took notes. I asked them if I could read their notes, believing that what I wrote down as the important points would be different from what they wrote down. It was interesting how their notes on the different speakers paralleled mine. I think this reflects favorably on the speakers who were able to communicate to high school and college students, and those of us considerably over that age. It also reflects favorably on our young people who can zero in on what is important. With so many interested young people attending in person and over the Internet, there is hope for our Country.

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Lou Frey represented Central Florida in the U. S. Congress from 1969 to 1979. In his last election, he received nearly 80% of the vote. He was elected one of five Republican leaders in the House of Representatives during the 93rd and 94th Congress. He served on...