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Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will head to New York City next week to deliver what his aides are billing as a major foreign policy address Tuesday at the Council on Foreign Relations.

"The speech will focus on the challenges and opportunities presented by the Arab Spring," a Pawlenty aide said in an emailed statement. "Governor Pawlenty will address President Obama's failed leadership, approach, and philosophy of how to approach the entire Middle East region. He will touch on the need for the Republican Party to continue its support for a strong foreign policy."

As the Republican field has drifted toward advocating a less militarily adventurous foreign policy, Pawlenty has remained more hawkish than many of his opponents.

Following Obama's speech Wednesday night, in which he announced his intention to withdraw 10,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan this year, Pawlenty appeared on Fox News and declared the president's decision to be "deeply disturbing."

"He said we need to end the war 'responsibly.' When America goes to war, America needs to win," Pawlenty said. "This decision should be based on conditions on the ground and success, not some vague notions of a responsible wind-down and then jumping over what the real mission is now, which is stabilizing the security of the country."

Pawlenty's comments stood in stark contrast to those of former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who issued a statement before Obama's speech calling for a "safe but rapid withdrawal" of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

In his own statement, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney appeared to back off a bit from comments he made in last week's debate that the U.S. could not fight "another nation's war of independence" -- words that elicited heavy criticism in some Republican foreign policy circles.

"We all want our troops to come home as soon as possible, but we shouldn't adhere to an arbitrary timetable on the withdrawal of our troops from Afghanistan," Romney said in his statement on Wednesday. "This decision should not be based on politics or economics."

Pawlenty has also been a vocal critic of Obama's Libya policy over the last few months, and the former Minnesota governor has called on the president to initiate a more robust no-fly zone there, regardless of the views of NATO allies.