Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney touts neoconservative foreign policy

In his first major foreign policy address of the 2012 presidential campaign, Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney on Oct. 7 presented a largely neoconservative platform similar to that pursued by George W. Bush, although he never mentioned the former president by name. Speaking at The Citadel military academy in South Carolina, Romney promised to increase defense spending-and the size of the U.S. Navy-as part of a strategy designed to ensure that the United States remain the world's dominant military power and that the 21st century be "an American century." His speech also followed the release earlier in the week of a list of his top foreign policy advisers, many, if not most, of whom are known for their neoconservative and strongly pro-Israel views. Adapted from the source document.