Barack Obama: realist or idealist?

Steve Walt is one of America's most influential realist political scientists. And he's very readable. Steve has a blog at Foreign Policy magazine here. And last year he examined the Obama White House through the realist/idealist prism. The discussion was triggered by a visit by Joe Biden to Georgia, where President Shaakashvili opined that in America, "idealists run the show." As you might imagine, a realist like Walt disagreed. Go here for his essay.