Marco Rubio Presses for an Active Role Abroad

Sen. Marco Rubio, nearly a year after his immigration-overhaul push hurt his standing among conservatives, has remade himself into a top spokesman among 2016 presidential hopefuls for a muscular U.S. foreign policy. 

Calling for sanctions against the Venezuelan government for human-rights violations and heavier economic pressure on Russia because of its policy toward Ukraine, the Florida Republican seems to be defying a declining appetite for U.S. engagement abroad.

But his approach, aides say, aims to be more nuanced than the hawkish postures taken by past GOP presidential nominees John McCain and Mitt Romney. Mr. Rubio's brand of foreign policy reflects, they say, a commitment to American might along with caution toward military intervention. 

Mr. Rubio on Friday night was due to appear for the first time this election cycle in New Hampshire, the host of the nation's first presidential primary and a veteran-heavy state that has favored candidates known as defense hawks. The senator's approach appeals to Republican voters such as Francesca Marconi Fernald, the owner of Geno's restaurant, a stomping ground for presidential candidates overlooking the Piscataqua River.

"I want America to be strong again," Ms. Fernald said, in between preparing lobster rolls and clam chowder. "I feel like we're kind of wish-washy in the international world." 

Mackenzie Eaglen, a defense-policy specialist at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, who said Mr. Rubio's staff had sought her advice, said his foreign policy falls into the "comfortable middle" between the establishment and libertarian wings of the Republican Party.

Mr. Rubio opposed military strikes against Syria in 2013, for example, whereas Mr. McCain and House Speaker John Boehner backed the proposed strikes. At the same time, Mr. Rubio, 42 years old, has supported aggressive steps to support Russian neighbors that feel threatened by Moscow, advocating North Atlantic Treaty Organization membership for Georgia and a currency board to help stabilize Ukraine's economy.

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