Obama's 'Bold' Policy Moves Come as Democrats 'Implode' After Clinton's Failure

In an interview with Sputnik, Daniel McAdams, political analyst and executive director of the US-based Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, drew attention to outgoing US President Barack Obama's recent foreign policy steps, which he linked to the implosion of the Democratic Party following Hillary Clinton's failed election campaign.

The interview came after Washington issued a series of controversial decisions that run counter to US President-elect Donald Trump's proclaimed policies.

For example, for the first time in 36 years, the US let the UN Security Council pass a resolution which condemns Israeli settlements in Palestine.

Trump, who had argued strongly for a US veto, called the resolution extremely unfair, adding that things will be different after his inauguration on January the 20th.

In another example, the Obama administration slapped Russia with new sanctions, accusing Moscow of hacking that allegedly helped Trump win the election, something that Daniel McAdams said was "an absolutely false story."

Earlier, the US President-elect expressed doubt regarding US intelligence claims of a Russian trace in the Democratic National Committee email leak.

Asked about whether the outgoing US administration seeks to taint Trump's presidency, Daniel McAdams said that "it's relatively unusual" to see Obama taking "such bold foreign policy steps" as his administration is literally walking out the White House door.

"The Democratic Party has really imploded with [expectations of] Hillary Clinton's presidency and with the realization of the fact that they used the wrong [campaign] tactics to achieve better results. So I think they are having difficult time reflecting on all this," McAdams said.

When asked whether Trump will deliver on his promise to reverse Obama's decisions when he enters office, McAdams remained cautiously optimistic.

"I don't know whether he will do it because he says a lot of things. But I think it will be quite easy for him to negate President Obama's executive orders. In fact, many of the sanctions on Russia are the result of such orders," he said.

On December 29, outgoing US President Barack Obama announced the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats, the closing of two Russian diplomatic compounds and new sanctions against six Russian individuals and five entities, including Russia's GRU (the Main Intelligence Directorate, comparable to the CIA) and FSB (the Federal Security Service), over Moscow's alleged interference in the November US presidential election, which the Kremlin has denied.

In response, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov proposed the tit-for-tat expulsion from Russia of 31 US Embassy personnel and four personnel of the US General Consulate in St. Petersburg.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would not expel anyone as a response to US sanctions against Moscow over alleged hacking, choosing instead to invite US embassy staffers to the country's most exclusive New Year's Eve celebration, in the Kremlin.

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