The President of the United States must have dreaded the results more than anyone as Republicans took hold of the Senate and maintained their control of the House of Representatives last week. His final attempt at reviving his presidency and getting things done in Washington seems to be futile.

Very few presidents have had a successful second term in office, and Obama is clearly not one of them. His approval ratings have sunk, his own party is rebellious against him and during the election campaign very few democratic candidates used his reference or name in their electoral speeches. Republicans campaigned by declaring a vote for a democrat as a vote for Obama, and there could be no more disastrous seasoning than CNN showing a typo which said “Navy seal killed Obama,” rather than Osama. One thing was clear, the republicans wanted this to be a fight against Obama, and they successfully pitched it that way.

The president could face an unprecedented gridlock in execution on domestic issues. Republicans clearly weren’t amused when he said in a press conference that he would go ahead solo on immigration reform and not sign the repealing of the Affordable Care Act.

Think about it for a minute, in historic terms, how many times have you seen foreign policy being drawn in as an election issue for midterm elections? The phenomenon is very rare, but you saw it this time around.

Now that the republicans sold the idea of how Obama is a failed president to America, will U.S. foreign policy be affected with a lame duck president in the White House?

It will disappoint the republicans to know not much can be changed in foreign policy with power in both houses. The constitutional design is such that the president is a powerful man who can stick to his commitment overseas even without the support of the Congress.

The Republican echo has spread outside the U.S., too. The Indian and Chinese media have called Obama an ineffective president and further stated the U.S. citizens have downgraded him for his dismal performance. In Obama’s defense, the media did construe the politics in America to be bitter and extremely partisan, making it difficult for Obama to carry out his policies.

This criticism came only days before his Asia trip, as he is currently at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.

Gordon Adams, columnist for “Foreign Policy Magazine” and professor of international relations at American University, also believes not much will change in foreign policy and international engagements with other countries even when republicans take over. 

“The bottom line is that this was a foreign policy election in the most fundamental sense. It was about fear and competence, however merited or unjustified. The question today is whether the outcome will have a significant impact on foreign policy and the resources to support that policy. Curiously, the answer is ‘yes, but probably not much,’”  Adams said.

With active military engagements ongoing, if Obama calls for an increased defense budget, things may not turn out as planned. You should not be surprised if Obama is remembered as a president who charged the American electorate in 2008 with change and did very little once he got there. Is it a result of the bitter standoff between two parties or an inefficiency coup?

 Looking forward, fighting for the White House in 2016 is still challenging for the republicans. There are very many who may match up with the fight against the likes of Elizabeth Warren and Hillary Clinton. It may be important for the GOP to address the demographics and play it out as they did in these elections. A surprise figure like South Carolina governor Nikki Haley for Vice President, Chris Christie for President, Marco Rubio or Rand Paul may extend their chances of winning the race to the White House.

Like it or not, one thing is clear. The republicans have mastered the art of reinvention. Who thought in 2008 with the charisma Obama possessed and his reelection in 2012 that the republicans would take back the Senate and control both houses come 2014? I like to reflect on this and decide whether this is a successful republican stunt, or do we actually have a president who has been incompetent as the commander-in-chief?

In these elections, we certainly have let foreign policy influence our decision, and we may just about have bought the republican argument of a hawkish president acting against American interests.