Presidential Debates 2012 - What to Expect in the Third and Final Debate on Foreign Policy; Obama and Romney - Who's More Fit to Lead?

The final presidential debate between President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney tonight focuses on foreign policy.

Voters increasingly say that topic is low on their priority list when picking between the two candidates. The economy, jobs, healthcare and the deficit all rank higher.

Yet this is the last time the candidates will have the entire nation's attention before the election on Nov. 6, and they will use the opportunity to emphasize the differences between their visions for the country for the next four years.

Though the questions from moderator Bob Schieffer, of CBS News, will be about foreign policy, look for both candidates to tie in their answers to issues more voters care about. Indeed, they may simply tip their hats to a relevant response before a quick segue to their campaign platforms.

However, Romney also believes foreign policy is an issue where the president is weak, and he will not forego any chance to drive home his message that America's role in the world has been harmed by the president's policies.

Romney brought up the terrorist attack on the Libyan consulate in Benghazi during the second presidential debate, and he will do so again.

Four Americans, including the ambassador to Libya, were killed when militants stormed the consulate, a development Romney blames on Obama's weakness in projecting American strength in the world.

Romney will claim that Iran is close to developing a nuclear weapon and will vow to take a hard line on Russia.

While the president is extremely popular overseas, far more so than his predecessor George W. Bush, the volatility of the Arab Spring and the European economic crisis offer openings for Romney to attack.

For his part, the president will remind the American public that he ended the war in Iraq and is drawing down troops in Afghanistan, putting the end of both unpopular wars in sight.

He will no doubt bring up the killing of Osama bin Laden by a team of Navy Seals, a mission ordered and authorized by the president that was certainly not guaranteed to be a success, let alone carried out without American casualties.

Romney portrays himself as a businessman, but he has little foreign policy experience, a point the president will attempt to drive home. On an overseas trip to Europe and the Middle East, Romney manages to offend several American allies.

Partisans on both sides likely have their minds made up about what American foreign policy should look like. But undecided voters, whose ambivalence about a wide range of topics stymies the most careful campaign consultants, will need to decide whether they prefer a president who takes a hard line on potential enemies at the risk of committing American forces or a diplomatic approach that is sometimes slower and more nuanced than the electorate is often willing to accept.

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