Analysts wonder whether Romney – who has moved to the right on issues such as healthcare, abortion and immigration during his run for the Republican nomination – is talking tough on foreign policy merely as a political strategy.

“Romney seems to believe that the way to beat Obama is to paint himself as the tough guy when it comes to national security,” says Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a senior member of the National Security Council under President Bill Clinton. “We simply don’t know whether he will stick to that.”…

Democratic officials believe that Romney’s vulnerabilities on foreign policy range from awkward statements that they believe show his naiveté – such as when he said Russia is Washington’s “number one geopolitical foe” – to a failure to truly come up with different or coherent policies on Iran or Afghanistan.

“The president’s record stands in stark contrast to Mitt Romney, who has been all over the map on the key foreign policy challenges that face our nation,” an Obama campaign official said.