The Heat discusses int’l, domestic policy in Obama’s SOTU speech

The Heat

Barack Obama made some sweeping announcements in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, including outlining U.S. military strategy to tackle ISIL in Iraq and Syria. The president also said he will give middle class families a tax break by raising taxes on wealthier Americans, and he proposed free community college education to all students. CCTV America’s Jessica Stone reported the details of his address from Washington, D.C.

Obama’s foreign policy with geopolitically important countries has been both lauded and criticized. But with a Republican majority in Congress and two years left in his second term, can he achieve anything major in a polarized political atmosphere? The Heat interviewed two experts on the issue:

* Majid Rafizadeh, a foreign policy expert in U.S.-Middle East relations and president of the International American Council.
* Daniel Benjamin, a former Ambassador-at-Large for the U.S. State Department, and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

The Heat also interviewed experts on Obama’s achievements and challenges in his domestic policies:

* Conservative columnist James Carafano, vice president of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy and the E. W. Richardson Fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
* Christopher Hahn, an attorney, radio host, and progressive pundit.