Foreign Affairs the Focus at Third Obama-Romney Debate
U.S. President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, are set to debate for a third and final time Monday, this time on foreign affairs.
For months during the long campaign leading to the November 6 election, surveys showed voters giving the Democratic incumbent a strong foreign policy edge over Romney, especially for President Obama's approval of the 2011 raid in Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.
2012 U.S. Presidential Debates
1/9Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama wave to the crowd following the first presidential debate in Denver, Colorado, October 3, 2012
2/9President Barack Obama speaks during the second presidential debate at Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York, October 16, 2012.
3/9Mitt Romney smiles at his rival at the debate in Denver.
4/9Barack Obama and Mitt Romney at the first presidential debate at the University of Denver, moderated by Jim Lehrer of PBS.
5/9Mitt Romney and Barack Obama spar over energy policy during the second presidential debate at Hofstra University, October 16, 2012.
6/9U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (L) debates Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan (R) during the vice presidential debate October 11, 2012.
7/9Customers at the Havana Social Club in Seattle gathered to watch the second presidential debate, October 16, 2012.
8/9President Barack Obama smiles at moderator Jim Lehrer at the University of Denver, October 3, 2012.
9/9Members of the audience were invited to ask questions at the second presidential debate in Hempstead, New York, October 16, 2012.
Previous slide
Next slide
The Republican candidate's foreign affairs expertise has largely been limited to overseas business deals he helped negotiate during his long career as a venture capitalist.
Third Presidential Debate
Third Presidential Debate
Held at Lynn University, Boca Raton, Florida
Focuses on foreign policy
Format is the same as the first debate
Divided into six, 15-minute segments
Each segment opens with a question by the moderator
Candidates have two minutes each to respond, rest of segment used for discussion
Source: Commission on Presidential Debates
However, newer surveys show that Romney has cut sharply into the president's perceived advantage on foreign affairs. Romney has pointedly criticized the White House's changing explanations about the September 11 raid on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya that killed four U.S. diplomats.
Aside from debating the Benghazi attack, the candidates are likely to discuss a variety of other foreign affairs issues. Among them are the bin Laden raid, China's role in the world economy, Obama's plan to end American military involvement in the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan by late 2014, the deadly conflict in Syria, rising tensions between Israel and Iran over Tehran's nuclear development program, and relations with Russia.
Fifteen days ahead of the election, several surveys show the race virtually tied, with a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finding the race deadlocked at 47 percent each.
Boca Raton, Florida
Monday's 90-minute debate is being held in the closely contested southern state of Florida and will be moderated by Bob Schieffer of CBS News.
The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.
