Foreign Policy, Political Debate | featured news

The third presidential debate drew a lot of viewers on Monday night, but not as many as the two debates that preceded it. 53.9 million people tuned in to watch President Obama and Mitt Romney face off, according to Nielsen. That number made the night, which focused on foreign policy, the lowest-rated of the three debates. As the Washington Post pointed out, there were several things working against the ratings.

It was almost as if President Obama's advisors had said before the debate, "Don't agree with Romney on anything," while Romney's advisors might have said to their boy, "Agree with Obama as much as possible." After all, this third and final presidential debate of 2012 was supposed to be about foreign policy, an area in which Obama is expert and seasoned and in which former governor Romney has no enviable credentials.

President Obama and Mitt Romney met for the third and final debate Monday night, where they tackled foreign policy issues. Below, CBSNews.com takes a closer look at the candidates' assertions on issues relating to Iraq, Russia, Iran, the size of the military, the economy and energy...

Text of the third and final presidential debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney.

While foreign policy became an unexpected pivotal point in last week's town-hall style presidential debate, Monday's final showdown will focus entirely on international affairs.

Misstatements were found about an oil pipeline, presidential contacts with Iran and cuts to the defense budget... The latest GOP debate was thin on memorable moments or major factual bloopers, but we do have some leftover claims to dispute before we shut down for the Thanksgiving holiday. We wouldn't want anybody's turkey dinner to be spoiled by worries that terrorists have come over the border with Mexico, for example. We also found misstatements about an oil pipeline, presidential contacts with Iran and cuts to the defense budget.

Republican presidential contenders jousted over Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Middle East on Tuesday night in a tense national security debate that laid out sharply contrasting views on how to keep America safe from attack.

The Republican candidates for president outlined their foreign policy and national security visions in a debate Saturday, tackling issues that have largely taken a backseat in a presidential race that has been shaped by the troubled economy.