Hillary Clinton’s ability to enact a no-fly zone in Syria would depend on how much political capital she wants to save for her domestic agenda, analysts said on Monday.
The Democratic nominee will face many of the same issues as President Obama during her first 100 days in office, including the refugee crisis, the Syrian civil war, and the potential for a no-fly zone over Syria.
But how successful she is on that last priority depends on how much “bandwidth” she wants to reserve for her domestic agenda, Alicia Sloan, a fellow with the Truman National Security Project, said at the 35th Annual Conference on U.S.-Turkey relations in Washington.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, would focus on very different things shortly after taking office, according to his foreign policy adviser, Walid Phares. The businessman’s first priority would be addressing the whole system of existing alliances and how they will be dealt with, including NATO, Phares said.
Trump will also focus early in his administration on re-engaging with governments with which the U.S. has had tension through a series of meetings with world leaders as well as defeating the Islamic State.
Trump will focus on what will replace the Islamic State when a vacuum is left in the Middle East, something his opponent is not paying attention to, Phares said.
Phares also said that once in office, Trump will speak transparently with the American people, following a campaign in which the GOP nominee faced criticism for lacking details in his plans.
“He’s not going to be abstract anymore,” he said.
Still, Phares said Trump will not announce his “grand moves.” Trump has criticized Obama repeatedly for broadcasting battle plans such as the operation to retake Mosul, which he says tip off the enemy and allow them prepare to counter the attack.
A RealClearPolitics average of polls over the last 10 days put Clinton 2.5 points ahead of Trump.
But Andrew Bowen, a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, said this is Clinton’s moment to shine.
“I think the Trump campaign is at the point of no return,” he said.
