America needs a foreign policy vision that's fresh, clear and bold as a series of crises cascades over the world stage. That much is clear, but the rest is a fine mess.

During a symposium given by the White House Historical Association, a haunting familiarity between President Obama and President James Madison hit me between the eyes. One authored the Constitution; the other taught constitutional law and wrote a memoir that would make the slaveholding Madison weep. Their presidencies went into freefall in their second terms, and I hope Obama will turn things around.

Here, before you go to the Baltic, meet your presidential soulmate, Mr. President. The truth is, Barack and Jemmy would both rather read (or write) a book than socialize or schmooze with supporters. They get each other.

I am not saying the British burned Washington 200 years ago on Madison's watch because he didn't make it to an embassy party. I am saying Madison, the fourth president, was a genius political thinker who saw his foreign policy go up in flames — literally. He lacked finesse in waging a war, which matters in a young democracy as well as in an old one, like ours. To this day, a warm common touch goes farther than the scholars and pundits knew.

The situation report: Washington is the leading player in the global drama, but hasn't learned its lines for the latest act yet. Still, the show goes on. The new and truly dark ISIS is moving like lightning into Iraq and Syria, brutally seizing power and spreading terror as fast you can say, "Ebola."

This state is a tragic consequence of our feckless military adventure in Iraq. But that was another president who never picked up a broken country's pieces. Besides, the strongman who ruled Iraq absolutely is dead, our only objective there. The Iraq of yesteryear — a functioning secular civil society — is gone in the desert sands. Untold lives have been lost.

In an hour of history charged with remembrance of wars past, we've heard mostly the sound of silence from the Oval Office. Shhh, the president is thinking up a new strategy. Spare space and time for his process, people. Remember, golf readies and steadies his mind. It did wonders for Dwight D. Eisenhower, whom everybody liked.

On our page of the nation's story, we are searching for clarity in Obama's conduct of foreign affairs. Unfortunately, "Go to your room" is not a proper foreign policy for these times. It inspires no fear among foes and gains no respect from allies.

World leaders, principally Vladimir Putin of Russia and Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, started conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza that showed the limits of "soft" power and moral authority.

Abroad and at home, Obama relies on his powers to persuade or charm, even when it comes to his political enemies. It took him a long time before he accepted that the House Republicans who blew in after the 2010 Tea Party election wanted him to fail, full stop. Obama's high-class charisma got him elected and raises millions at fundraisers that tie up traffic. But it does not help him govern.

Foreign policy is snakelike in the way it follows domestic policy. Foreign leaders keep track of each other's strength and standing at home, and adjust their actions in a barometer. If Congress refuses to work with a president, then it's harder to get cooperation even with our friends in NATO, let alone, say, Afghanistan.

Putin and "Bibi" are not long on charm, and they will never go to their rooms, whatever the world community thinks of them. They are not into parleys of sweet reason. That is, however, the only language Obama speaks. In another age, his enlightened worldview would have served the nation well.

So, it does not take an expert to know the United States urgently needs to reformulate its global stance and strategy. The 1814 siege dealt a huge blow to the early republic. Madison's reputation has not been the same since. That's not company Obama should keep.

To find out more about Jamie Stiehm, and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit www.creators.com.