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Bullets, though not the weapons firing them, is what Sen. Marco Rubio (R) of Florida says he would advocate providing Syria鈥檚 rebels.

That suggestion, proposed in a Middle East-oriented talk Senator Rubio gave at a Washington think tank Wednesday, was about as far as the rising Republican foreign-policy authority strayed from Obama administration policy as he discussed his views on issues ranging from Iran to Israel and the Palestinians.

Rubio recently published an article entitled 鈥淩efusal to Lead鈥� in Foreign Policy magazine, in which he criticized President Obama for neglecting America鈥檚 leadership role in international issues from Syria to North Korea鈥檚 nuclear challenge to the global promotion of democracy and human rights.

But in his talk at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy Wednesday, the man who is on most pundits' presidential short list for 2016 said little that sounded substantively different from the Obama administration.

When he described it as increasingly important to 鈥渟peak to the American people鈥� about world affairs because 鈥渨e no longer live in a national economy, we live in a global economy,鈥� Rubio sounded like he could have been quoting John Kerry鈥檚 first speech earlier this month as secretary of State.

Rubio said he agreed with the president that negotiations with Iran must be given a chance, but that the Islamic Republic must never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon. He agreed that the US should not send weapons into a Syria 鈥渁lready awash in arms.鈥� And he said he supports the administration鈥檚 efforts to further the Palestinians鈥� 鈥済overnance鈥� expertise and economic development.

Just back from a trip to Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank, Rubio said he talked to Israelis concerned about what Mr. Obama鈥檚 intends to do when he visits Israel in March. He said he told them 鈥渢hat it鈥檚 my sense the president is coming more to listen than to dictate鈥� on the issue of Israeli-Palestinian peace. And he said he believed that, at this point, with Iran and other regional security issues topping Israel as a priority, that such a stance is the right one for the president.

On Syria, Rubio demonstrated a command of the complexities of the civil war and laid out a plan of action that sounded closer to where the White House appears to be headed than to some of his more hawkish Republican colleagues. He suggested providing more nonlethal supplies to the rebels.

鈥淚鈥檓 uncomfortable if we鈥檙e doing anything to escalate violence,鈥� he said.

Rubio said the problem in Syria is not so much the opposition鈥檚 access to weapons as it is the fact that 鈥渢he best-armed [rebels] are the most radical ones, the most anti-American ones.鈥� To help level the rebel playing field, one step would be to provide 鈥渞esponsible groups鈥� not with weapons, but with the ammunition they need for the weapons they have, he said.

On Iran, Rubio said he would like to see a 鈥渂reakthrough鈥� in the negotiations the US and other world powers have under way with Tehran on its nuclear program. But he doesn鈥檛 hold out much hope, saying he believes that 鈥渢he negotiations are nothing but a ploy to buy time鈥� for the Iranian regime to make progress toward building a nuclear weapon.

And Rubio said he is convinced Ayatollah Ali Khamenei鈥檚 goal is to build a bomb. Iran鈥檚 supreme leader has absorbed the lesson of other leaders: Libya鈥檚 Muammar Qaddafi had a weapons program but gave it up and ultimately lost power, while North Korea brandishes a minor nuclear-weapons capability to fend off international pressure.

鈥淭he Iranians have concluded, 鈥榃e don鈥檛 want to be Qaddafi, we want to be North Korea, we want that level of security,鈥� 鈥� Rubio said.

Yet while he did not fault the Obama administration for at least attempting to find a diplomatic solution with Iran, Rubio did single out as a 鈥渕istake鈥� what he said was Obama鈥檚 failure to support Iran鈥檚 green movement during elections in 2009.

Noting that Iran will hold presidential elections in June, Rubio said, 鈥淚 hope we don鈥檛 repeat that mistake.鈥� Globally, the US needs to be 鈥渓ouder鈥� on human rights issues, he said.