News Analysis: Foreign policy could be major hurdle for GOP candidate Rand Paul

Republican Senator Rand Paul, who launched his presidential campaign on Tuesday, will face the challenge of being what critics call a "dove" on foreign policy at a time when many Republican voters want a "hawk" as terrorism is on the rise worldwide.

Paul, who opposes U.S. military action unless there is a direct threat to the country, will join the fray of several other Republican Party (GOP) candidates from four different wings -- Libertarian, Establishment, Tea Party and Social Conservative. Many are more hawkish on foreign policy than Paul at a time when foreign policy is gearing up to be a major issue in the 2016 race to the White House.

"He's going to have to sell himself to rank and file GOP voters as a reluctant warrior on foreign policy. If he can't overcome that hurdle, his campaign is going to be pretty much dead in the water by the time we get to the Florida primary," Republican Strategist Ford O' Connell told Xinhua, referring to one of several primary contests slated for next year.

"Foreign policy will be a huge issue in the Republican primary and it's probably going to be an even bigger issue in the general elections," he said.

Paul will have to strike a balance between gaining more supporters and keeping his base, which could prove to be a tall order.

"He has to walk the tightrope. He has to find a way to expand his appeal in the Republican Party without losing his libertarian supporters, and that's going to be tough. Because the number one thing the rank and file GOP voter does not like him on is national security and foreign policy," O' Connell said.

"A sizable chunk of the Republican primary voting electorate is over 50 years old, and they are relatively a hawkish crowd," he added.

Foreign policy is expected to be a major issue in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections, and likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has already made an effort to come out strong on foreign policy.

Indeed, in a move meant to widen the space between herself and President Barack Obama, Clinton blasted Obama's foreign policy slogan of "Don't do stupid stuff."

"Great nations need organizing principles, and 'Don't do stupid stuff' is not an organizing principle," she told The Atlantic monthly in an interview published a few months ago.

Still, critics view Clinton as tainted by the White House's perceived foreign policy missteps.

As a former secretary of state under Obama, Clinton spurred controversy for what critics billed as not being forthcoming on the details surrounding the 2012 attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed a U.S. ambassador.

Moreover, with the administration now coming under fire for putting the threat of the Islamic State (IS) -- a radical terror group in Iraq and Syria -- on the backburner until the situation boiled over, Clinton could be viewed as lacking foresight on major foreign policy issues.

The IS has in recent months overrun vast swaths of territory in northern Iraq, posing a major problem for the United States, which aims to keep terrorism in check a decade after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

The militants' territorial gains have made Washington worried that its ultimate nightmare could come true -- that the group could carve out a haven in Iraq or Syria and use it as a staging ground for attacks against the U.S., much like al-Qaida did in Afghanistan. Endi