Conflict Avoidance Is Not A Foreign Policy

As Abe Greenwald has noted, Obama lacks a foreign policy ideology. Michael Gerson makes the case that it's worse than that:

But even lacking an ideology, the administration does have a doctrine. The defining principle of President Obama's foreign policy is engagement with America's adversaries. Much of the president's public diplomacy has been designed to clear a path for such talks -- expressing respect for legitimate grievances, apologizing for past wrongs and offering dialogue without preconditions.

Six months on, how fares the Obama doctrine? Concerning North Korea and Iran, the doctrine is on its deathbed...