U.S. President Barack Obama's foreign policy came under sharp criticism Wednesday at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida.

Senator John McCain, the man Mr. Obama defeated in the 2008 presidential election, told delegates the president has repeatedly failed to support allies across the globe as well as others who have tried to stand up against tyrants and dictators.

“When Iranians rose up by the millions against their oppressive rulers, when they beseeched our president, chanting in English, “Are you with us or are you with them?”, when the entire world watched as a brave young woman named Neda was shot and bled to death in the street in Tehran, the president missed a historic opportunity to throw America's full moral support behind an Iranian revolution that shared one of our highest interests: ridding Iran of a brutal dictatorship that terrorizes the Middle East and threatens the world.”

McCain also accused Mr. Obama of failing the opposition in Syria, which has been struggling to topple the regime of Bashar al-Assad, and for allowing countries like Russia and China to have too much sway over U.S. foreign policy. He said the Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, has the ability to restore America to a position of leadership on the global stage.

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice echoed McCain's sentiments in her remarks to the convention. While not mentioning the president by name, Rice said America “cannot be reluctant to lead — and one cannot lead from behind.”

“Our friends and allies must again be able to trust us. From Israel to Poland to the Philippines to Colombia and across the world – they must know that we are reliable and consistent and determined. And our foes, our foes must have no reason to doubt our resolve – because peace really does come through strength. Our military capability and our technological advantage will be safe in Mitt Romney's hands.”

Rice said America is “abandoning the playing field of free trade” under Mr. Obama. She noted that while the U.S. has ratified just three trade agreements in recent years — all of them under the previous administration of former President George W. Bush — China has signed 15 trade agreements, and is negotiating 20 more.

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'When long-suffering peoples demand liberation from their jailers and torturers and tyrants, the leader of the free-world must stand with them. Unfortunately, this is not happening. When Iranians rose up by the millions against their oppressive rulers, when they beseeched our president, chanting in English, “Are you with us or are you with them?”, when the entire world watched as a brave young woman named Neda was shot and bled to death in the street in Tehran, the president missed a historic opportunity to throw America's full moral support behind an Iranian revolution that shared one of our highest interests: ridding Iran of a brutal dictatorship that terrorizes the Middle East and threatens the world.”

“We can't afford to cause our friends and allies, from Latin America to Europe to Asia to the Middle East and especially in Israel, a nation under existential threat, to doubt America's leadership.”

“We can't afford to give government in Russia and China a veto over how we defend our interests and the progress of our values in the world . We can't afford to have the security of our nation – we can't afford to have the security of our nation and those who bravely defend it endangered because the government leaks the secrets of their heroic operations to the media .”