The Republican presidential hopefuls meet on Tuesday for their second foreign policy debate in 10 days, with Newt Gingrich looking to extend a campaign surge that has propelled him to a lead over Mitt Romney in polls for the 2012 race. 
 
 The debate will shine a spotlight on Republican differences over Iran, Pakistan, the use of waterboarding, and foreign aid in a race that so far has focused largely on economic issues and featured few policy clashes among the top contenders. 
 
 Gingrich, Romney and six other Republicans take part in the 8 p.m. (0100 GMT Wednesday) debate at Washington's DAR Constitution Hall, which airs live on CNN. 
 
 Gingrich could have the most to lose in Tuesday's showdown. He is the latest in a series of conservatives to challenge the more moderate Romney for the top spot in the Republican race for the right to face Democratic President Barack Obama in 2012. 
 
 A CNN/Opinion Research poll on Monday showed Gingrich, a former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, with a 4-point national edge over Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who has hovered near the top of polls all year. 
 
 Conservatives have failed to coalesce around a clear alternative to Romney, but Gingrich's campaign has soared in recent weeks as rivals like businessman Herman Cain and Texas Governor Rick Perry faltered in the spotlight. 
 
 The debate, the 11th of the year for the Republican candidates, comes barely more than a month before Iowa kicks off the state-by-state nominating fight. But the focus on foreign policy, which has taken a backseat to the economy, could limit its long-term impact. 
 
 "There are differences in views among the Republican presidential candidates on foreign policy, but that isn't where the interest has been for voters or the media," Republican strategist Matt Mackowiak said. 
 
 FOREIGN POLICY DIFFERENCES 
 
 Those differences were in full view at the last debate in South Carolina on Nov. 12, when candidates spelled out differing views on using military force to halt Iran's nuclear ambitions, a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, and the use of waterboarding in interrogations. 
 
 Romney forcefully supported a military option if needed to stop Iran's nuclear development, and Gingrich said he would back "whatever steps are necessary" and proposed a covert campaign against Iran's scientists. Cain and U.S. Representative Ron Paul opposed military action. ||||| The Republican candidates debating Tuesday night can most likely agree on one thing: Foreign policy isn’t going to decide the 2012 presidential race. 
 
 But each of the eight debaters will still have something at stake when they take the stage in Washington for the CNN-hosted 11th debate of the year. 
 
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 For the candidates atop the polls — Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich — the debate is an opportunity to let voters imagine them in the White House Situation Room as commander-in-chief. For Jon Huntsman, it’s a chance to showcase his diplomatic bona fides.For underdog conservatives, such as Rick Perry, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann, the debate provides an opening to ask Republican voters for another shot at looking presidential. 
 
 And for Herman Cain, the second consecutive forum focused on national security and foreign affairs is another chance to outline a position on Libya — perhaps with fewer distractions twirling around in his head. 
 
 The fact that the debate is taking place in the shadow of the so-called supercommittee’s collapse, with huge, automatic defense cuts looming in the near future, adds some urgency to the event. As the Republican presidential field prepares for yet another prime-time bout, here are the top five dynamics POLITICO will be watching for: 
 
 Can Newt Gingrich perform as a front-runner? 
 
 Debate season has been friendly to Gingrich — very, very friendly. The former speaker of the House has gone from a nonfactor in the 2012 race to a leader in the polls chiefly on the strength of his debate performances. 
 
 There’s going to be a different standard for Gingrich’s performance now that he’s more than a marginal candidate. And his typical formula of attacking the moderator and disputing the premise of virtually every question may not be enough to sustain his position in the polls. 
 
 Gingrich has to do more Tuesday night than entertain a conservative audience; he has to look and sound like a president. 
 
 Longtime Gingrich-watchers say that the subject matter of the debate plays to his strengths. With the exception of Huntsman and perhaps the well-studied Romney, Gingrich has simply been immersed in security and foreign policy issues more extensively than any of his opponents. 
 
 “If they asked Newt whether he agreed with President Obama on Libya, the 11 minutes would not be stunned silence, but 150 examples of what he would have done differently,” said Rich Galen, the GOP strategist and former Gingrich aide. “I’m not particularly in favor of his candidacy, but this is the kind of thing that he just shines in.” 
 
 The greater challenge for Gingrich, said Galen, may be responding to attacks from other candidates in such a way that “he doesn’t look like he’s being disrespectful and swatting away a fly.”
– Tonight’s GOP debate in Washington will focus on foreign policy—though, as Politico notes, “foreign policy isn’t going to decide the 2012 presidential race.” The topic just “isn’t where the interest has been for voters or the media,” a strategist tells the Economic Times. Even so, there will be lots of things to keep an eye on, particularly since we have a new not-Mitt-Romney frontrunner: Newt Gingrich. Gingrich has the most to lose, with the Washington Post noting that he's the fifth contender to top the polls this year. He has performed well in previous debates—in fact, debate performance is largely what resurrected his campaign—but he'll have to live up to a higher standard now that he’s seen as a serious candidate. Longtime observers expect him to do well, since foreign policy is one of his strengths. Mitt Romney has focused on his ability to create jobs; tonight he will have to prove that he is strong enough to compete with a president who oversaw Osama bin Laden’s death, Moammar Gadhafi’s ouster, the Afghanistan surge, and the Iraq draw-down. After his embarrassing Libya gaffe, Herman Cain will have another shot to explain his position—and if he wants to recover, he’ll have to prove he actually knows something about foreign policy. Jon Huntsman, the only candidate with foreign policy experience, could get a chance to shine—but his positions so far haven’t resonated with voters. Will his message—opposition to US foreign entanglements—finally break through tonight? Previous debates have not showcased many policy clashes between candidates—but this time, look for quite a few differences when it comes to how we should deal with Iran’s nuclear program, Pakistan, an Afghanistan withdrawal, waterboarding, and more. The 8pm debate airs live on CNN. Click to see why Gingrich thinks he’s the best debater of the bunch.