The third and final presidential debate will air tonight in Boca Raton, Fl. With the candidates tied at 47 percent support by likely voters in the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, this final debate focusing on foreign policy may prove pivotal to the election.

Though the debate is bound to be peppered with one-liners, we can essentially predict based on their previous statements where we can expect the candidates to stand on the big issues--namely those of Latin America, Israel, Iran, the Euro Crisis, and China.

Latin America:

Latin America has not been heavily discussed by the candidates, so Monday's debate should prove helpful in forcing them to speak on their policy plans in the region. 

According to their website, Romney's camp says they will "pursue an active role in Latin America by supporting democratic allies and market-based economic relationships." Within his first 100 days in office, he promises to launch the Campaign for Economic Opportunity in Latin America, a trade and investment promotion program between the United States and democratic nations of Latin America.

As for the drug war, Romney promises to look into "the need for enhanced military-to-military training cooperation and intelligence sharing to combat drug cartels and criminal gangs" within the first 100 days and complete a border sense to protect the border from infiltration by illegal immigrants, trans-national criminal networks and terrorists." 

Obama showed his commitment to Latin America with a scandal-plagued visit to Columbia this spring. Like Romney, he wants to boost trade with Latin America. During his presidency, he oversaw the ratification of trade agreements with Columbia and Panama, and like Romney, has pledged to complete negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free-trade agreement between 11 countries, some of which are Latin American. In terms of the drug war, many are reporting that obama will focus efforts on the issue if re-elected.

Israel:

Romney has much more openly declared his support of Israel, and has even criticized Obama for not being supportive enough of the state. Romney takes a much more militaristic-based stance with Israel, promising to "work with Israel to maintain its strategic military edge." Romney is on good terms with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu; he visited Israel in July.

Obama pledged to ensure Israel's security and favors the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with borders mutually agreed upon by the two nations, and not necessarily the pre-1967 ones. As for lack of support of Israel, Obama spoke warmly of Israel at the 2011 AIPAC Policy Conference, empathizing with the Israeli situation. He views the United States and Israel as  "two people who struggled to win our freedom against overwhelming odds." Obama has been steadily providing extensive financial assistance to Israel, and has no intention of stopping with re-election.

Iran:

With the fragility of our relationship with Iran, the focus on the candidates' positions on the Islamic Republic deals with their position in negotiations with Iran regarding nuclear capabilities. 

Romney appears to take a much more militaristic stance toward Iran. He does not want Iran to have any enrichment capability whatsoever, although they are allowed by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to have enrichment capability within the treaty's rules, as reported by the New York Times. He will support Israel, should they choose to take military action toward Iran. Romney has yet to comment  on whether he's open to one-on-one talks with Iran about their nuclear capabilities. 

Obama is against any military attack on Iran in the near future, unless it's an absolutely necessary action to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Though Obama does not want Iran to have nuclear capabilities, he favors a more diplomatic approach. As reported on Saturday, the Obama administration managed to get Iran to agree to one-on-one talks regarding their nuclear program, post-election.

The Euro Crisis:

Though not at the forefront of many citizens' concerns anymore, the European Union is still in serious financial duress. As a major player in the world economy, this can affect the U.S. national economy as well. The candidates have not really discussed in any detail their stances on Europe.

Romney came under fire for anti-European remarks earlier in his campaign, but toned down his comments following his tour of Europe. Regardless, Romney has criticized Europe for its handling of the Euro crisis, and is not in favor of their tax structures or styles of healthcare and social welfare.

Obama is relatively better received in Europe, as his values align more with those of the European Union. He dismissed criticism from the Romney camp over his administration's handling of the Euro crisis.

China:

Romney criticized Obama for not taking a strong enough stance against China. Clayton Dube, an expert on U.S.-China relations and the executive director of the USC U.S.-China Institute, explains that "Romney argues the administration hasn’t done nearly enough, and promises to label China a currency manipulator. He’s not explained what additional measures would follow, and how these will address the problems in our economic relationship."

Obama has defended that he has stood up to China. 

"Obama notes how his administration has worked to open Chinese markets to American products and stood up to unfair Chinese trade practices," Dube says. 

 

Reach Staff Reporter Fiona Alfait here.