Voice of America quotes Brent Scowcroft Center Associate Director Alex Ward on the foreign policy and national security discussions during the recent democratic presidential debate:
he candidates spent much of the first half of the debate discussing foreign policy issues, in a possible reflection of how the Paris attacks are reshaping the 2016 presidential race.
“There will be more of a focus on national security and foreign policy,” said Alex Ward, the associate director of the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security at the Washington-based Atlantic Council.
The shift in emphasis will likely benefit Clinton, who, because of her time as America’s top diplomat, has the most extensive foreign policy experience of any candidate in either party, according to Ward.
But while all of the candidates are feeling pressure to come out with tough anti-Islamic State statements, none on Saturday offered substantive new information about how they would combat the group, he said.
“They all went a bit further than they did in the past, but didn’t go too deep into how they would see their ends met,” Ward said.