The tentative plan being discussed internally would have Romney begin his roll-out with a news-making address at the VFW convention later this month in Reno, Nev. The presumptive GOP nominee then is slated to travel to London for the start of the Olympics and to give a speech in Great Britain on U.S. foreign policy.

Romney next would fly to Israel for a series of meetings and appearances with key Israeli and Palestinian officials. Then, under the plan being considered, he would return to Europe for a stop in Germany and a public address in Poland, a steadfast American ally during the Bush years and a country that shares Romney’s wariness toward Russia. Romney officials had considered a stop in Afghanistan on the journey, but that’s now unlikely. …

Still, the world tour is reminiscent of then-Sen. Barack Obama’s overseas trip in the summer of 2008 and is being planned with a similar goal in mind: to project Romney above the campaign’s daily nitty-gritty and cast him as a plausible commander in chief at ease with foreign leaders and the general public in distant capitals. But the list of countries Romney is considering stops in also reflects implied contrasts he wants to draw with Obama.