Politics & Government

Mitt Romney's recent victories in Iowa and New Hampshire have bolstered the perception — at home and overseas — that the former Massachusetts governor has all but locked up the Republican presidential nomination.

While the foreign press is picking up on all the familiar tropes about Romney (a dull but determined Mormon moderate millionaire with solid business credentials and shifting political views), some news outlets are going further — expressing outright anger with the Republican presidential candidate over his foreign-policy views.

Romney, to be sure, hasn't said anything as incendiary as, say, Newt Gingrich (Palestinians are an "invented" people), Herman Cain ("Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan") or Rick Perry (Turkish leaders are "Islamic terrorists"). Still, Romney has ruffled feathers abroad by coming out strongly against Russian aggression, European socialism, Iranian nuclear ambitions, Chinese economic policy and illegal immigration. Examples:

Eastern Europe

Romney, perhaps more than any other candidate, has been a vocal critic of the Obama administration's "reset" with Russia, calling the New START nuclear-arms reduction agreement President Obama's "worst foreign-policy mistake," criticizing the president for abandoning Eastern European allies such as Poland and the Czech Republic, and arguing that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin threatens global stability by dreaming of "rebuilding the Russian empire."

Those comments haven't gone unnoticed in the Russian press. The tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda reports Romney is a "hawk" on Russia even though he generally is considered a moderate on other issues. The World Policy Institute's Michele Wucker, however, assures Izvestia that Romney and his rivals are tailoring their anti-Russia rhetoric for domestic consumption — "not battling against Putin, but Obama."

Russian coverage isn't all negative. The state-run radio station Voice of Russia, for example, notes Romney has an "IQ of 122 while Obama has scored 140," which could make the 2012 elections "the most intellectual ones in America's contemporary history." The news outlet, citing experts, adds that America "is tired of wars" and "doesn't want tension with Russia and China and involvement in new Middle East campaigns."

The Polish press, not surprisingly, generally is friendly to Romney. At the journalist forum Salon24, historian Michael Krupa observes Romney is the only Republican candidate to have outlined his foreign-policy vision thoroughly, particularly when it comes to Europe. Krupa says Romney wants to elevate U.S.-Polish relations by executing a plan scrapped by Obama to locate U.S. missile-defense systems in Poland and working to decrease Eastern European dependence on Russian gas supplies. Gazeta Wyborcza writes that, while Romney may be "colorless and wooden," he can boast of "real achievements" as a businessman and governor.

Western Europe

Romney may have expressed interest in Switzerland's health-care model, lived in France as a Mormon missionary in the late 1960s, and spoken French while promoting the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002 (as Gingrich, a French speaker himself, gleefully notes in a new attack ad), but Romney's assaults on Europe, amid a worsening European debt crisis, have ramped up since he launched his campaign. In New Hampshire, Romney accused Obama of wanting "to turn America into a European-style entitlement society."

European society, needless to say, isn't thrilled with these statements. France's Le Figaro, which has compared Romney's blandness to Socialist presidential candidate François Hollande's (the socialism-bashing Romney probably wouldn't appreciate the comparison), laments that France and "old Europe" have become "punching bags" in the Republican primary, noting Romney may have developed his "European allergy" as he watched a "nation of cynical disbelievers" slam doors in his face as a young missionary. The French paper adds that GOP candidates, with all their anti-European rhetoric, seem to forget Wall Street deregulation and the collapse of the U.S. housing market triggered the current financial crisis.

Der Spiegel, meanwhile, claims the Republican focus on Europe is as much a "cultural confrontation" as it is an economic one, and that Romney has framed the confrontation "as a battle for the soul of America." These statements, the German paper argues, sound "absurd from a European point of view — even more so given the current state of the U.S. economy. The American dream of being able to rise from being a dishwasher to millionaire hasn't been reality for years, perhaps decades."

Yet, the European press harbors grudging respect for the smooth and steady way that Romney seemingly has locked up the nomination. Der Spiegel calls Romney the "GOP's Duracell Bunny," and the Telegraph observes that, while "a Romney stump speech may be the political equivalent of watching paint dry," his "relentless focus on the economy and his own background in the private sector is exactly the right focus during a recession." Germany's Die Welt praises Romney and Gingrich as "experienced center-right politicians," and observes that "one can't help but be impressed by the new ideas emanating from the party following the demise of the Neocons."

Middle East

Romney has directed some of his most heated rhetoric at Iran, which he argues poses "the greatest immediate threat to the world since the fall of the Soviet Union" because of its nuclear ambitions, which Romney says he plans to halt through tough sanctions, support for domestic opposition groups and the threat of military force.

Iran's Press TV has fired back. The state-run news outlet has taken issue with a Romney stump speech claiming that Iran is "intent on becoming nuclear." The article notes Iran already is contending with international sanctions and U.S. covert operations, and that the International Atomic Energy Agency "has never pointed to any evidence indicating that Tehran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear-weapons production."

Reaction has been warmer in Israel, which Romney pledges to visit on his first official trip as president (he often accuses Obama of throwing Israel "under the bus"). A Ynet op-ed by an Israeli living in the United States praises Romney for emphasizing that the United States "should be willing to stand by its allies" and criticizing "Obama's ambivalence toward Israel." But another op-ed in Haaretz questions whether there is much of a difference between Romney's policy toward Iran and Obama's. Romney's declarations include "innumerable statements about military power," the author notes, "but nothing is said about a firm commitment to an American strike against Iran, or about giving a green light to Jerusalem for an Israeli attack."

China

Romney's pledge to designate China as a currency manipulator and pursue litigation against its "unfair trade practices" hasn't won much support in the Chinese press, which is generally of the opinion that Beijing becomes a scapegoat every U.S. election cycle. China Daily has discussed Jon Huntsman's Mandarin-infused efforts to inform Romney that his policies would start a trade war with China. Citing an expert at Shanghai's Fudan University, the paper explains the "presidential candidates have no other choice but to criticize China in the election, as the U.S. is in a phase of relatively rapid decline." Ouch.

The criticism of Romney isn't limited to his positions on China. "The former Massachusetts governor is willing to say whatever pleases the Republican voters," another China Daily analysis notes, echoing a refrain across borders.

Mexico

Romney's ties with Mexico date to 1885, when his great-grandfather settled in a Mormon colony there. Romney's father was born in Mexico, and Romneys still live in Chihuahua state, but that hasn't stopped Romney from calling for a high-tech fence along the entire U.S.-Mexico border, pouncing on his GOP opponents for being soft on immigration, and coming out against "DREAM Act," which would provide legal status for children of illegal immigrants who enroll in college or the military. (That aside, to reach out to Latino voters in Florida, Romney did release a Spanish-language ad in which one of his sons shows off sharp Spanish skills).

In addition to reporting on the indignation of Latino activists over Romney's lurch to the right on immigration (his Massachusetts health-care law allowed illegal immigrants to receive virtually free care), the Mexican press has tweaked Romney for coming down hard on immigration despite his Mexican roots. As a journalist for the Ciudad Juárez-based El Diario put it, "It's a great paradox of life that Romney has shown himself to be so anti-immigrant while being a de facto son of a Mexican immigrant."