Romney: God Wants US to Lead

Mitt Romney gave his first big foreign policy speech of the campaign today, going strong on American exceptionalism. Full text here. Some parts being highlighted by the Washington Post and Boston Globe:

• “This century must be an American century. In an American century, America leads the free world and the free world leads the entire world."
• He said President Obama's "feckless policies of the last three years" have damaged US standing in the world.

• He promised to expand naval and missile defense systems, reverse Pentagon budget cuts, and strengthen ties with Israel and other allies.
• He warned that the US can't "crawl into an isolationist shell," seen as a criticism of fellow Republicans arguing that the US must scale back.
• “God did not create this country to be a nation of followers. America is not destined to be one of several equally balanced global powers. America must lead the world, or someone else will. Without American leadership, without clarity of American purpose and resolve, the world becomes a far more dangerous place, and liberty and prosperity would surely be among the first casualties.”

(More Mitt Romney 2012 stories.)