Friday's global agenda: Obama seeks to make up lost foreign policy edge ahead of final debate

Your morning global affairs speed-read

The Obama campaign suffered a blow Thursday when new polling showed Republican Mitt Romney closing the gap on foreign policy, which had been a key point of strength for the president. The two candidates will face off on the topic Monday during their third and final debate.

Much of the president's ground on the topic has been lost over the past month, following the attack in Libya, and administration officials have been working hard to undo the damage. They've pushed back especially hard on Republican accusations that the president deliberately misled voters about the circumstances of the attack and laid out their most detailed explanation yet for the changing intelligence assessment in interviews with The Wall Street Journal.

As for Obama, he made it clear Thursday that he won't shy away from playing his trump card during Monday's debate. 

“Monday’s debate is a little bit different because the topic is foreign policy,” Obama said at last night at the Alfred E. Smith Dinner. “Spoiler alert: We got bin Laden.”

He went on to mock Romney's poorly received trip abroad over the summer.

“Of course, world affairs are a challenge for every candidate. After — some of you guys remember, after my foreign trip in 2008, I was attacked as a celebrity because I was so popular with our allies overseas. And I have to say, I’m impressed with how well Governor Romney has avoided that problem.”

In other news: 

The CIA is seeking to expand its drone fleet, reports The Washington Post.

Diplomats from Bangladesh said today they would travel to Washington to meet with U.S. officials over the case of a student arrested Wednesday for allegedly trying to blow up the Federal Reserve. [Associated Press]

The Obama administration deserves some of the blame for Honduras's turn for the worse, argues Foreign Affairs.

What you might have missed on Global Affairs:

US allies elected to UN Security Council

US puts $12M bounty on Iran-based al Qaeda money men, freezes their assets

Feinstein faults intelligence director for mixed messages on Benghazi attack

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