Outgoing President Barack Obama is showing a tough face in foreign affairs. He is making jabs that seldom did we see during the past eight years.The timing of his “get tough” positions with Israel and Russia is a bit suspect because he could have delayed taking the actions since he’s a lame duck as far as time in office is concerned. He is leaving fence-mending to the new president, Donald Trump. Did he just want to leave the foreign policy mess for the new president to clean up?President Obama expelled 35 suspected Russian intelligence operatives from the U.S. over the alleged use of cyberattacks to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. Russian leader Vladimir Putin responded by saying no U.S. diplomats will be ousted in reprisal for Obama’s actions. Putin called the U.S.’s action a “provocation aimed at further undermining Russian-American relations.”It does look like we are entering another Cold War with Russia.It also brings up a question of whether we are hacking Russian officials’ emails. We probably are but there is no evidence we are trying to oust Putin from office. We suspect most countries with cyber abilities are doing some hacking for intelligence reasons.President Obama’s relations with Israel have hit a new low since in the United Nations we did not block a resolution condemning Israel’s building of settlements in the disputed areas of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.We expect both the Russian and Israeli disputes with the U.S. to calm once Trump is in the White House. He has sent signals that he wants better relations with Russia, and he has said he will deal with Israel when he’s in office.Foreign affairs is something President Obama has received low marks in from most president-watchers. What changes the new president will make in our foreign affairs policies is something that is awaited with great anticipation.