Obama's foreign policy: Is he hawk or dove?

In 2008 Barack Obama stood before a 200,000-strong crowd in Berlin and declared that "now is the time to build new bridges across the globe" - but did he ever intend to pursue the foreign policy his liberal well-wishers expected of him?

If you are running to be the next US commander-in-chief, it pays to talk tough.

Recently, the Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney called President Barack Obama "weak" after anti-American violence erupted in the Muslim world.

President Obama, of course, has a killer comeback: "Al-Qaeda is on the path to defeat," he has proclaimed, "and Osama Bin Laden is dead."

After four years in office, the president hopes the image of a man unafraid to use military force might help woo American voters.

But what about those liberals around the world who cheered Obama's election - and those who awarded him the Nobel Peace Prize after just a year in office? Should they feel disappointed with the toughness of the man in the Oval Office?

Back in 2008, many hoped Obama's election would usher in a new and more peaceful era in world affairs. Guantanamo Bay would soon close. US military operations and strikes in the Muslim world would abate. The mooted American invasion of Iran would soon be off the table.

These wishes did not come true.

BBC NEWS