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Barack Obama's Foreign Policy
Brookings Institution Press
March 2012
On Sale: March 2, 2012
ISBN: 081572182X
EAN: 9780815721826
Kindle: B007HSF7JC
Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction
How well has Barack Obama carried out his duties as U.S.
commander-in-chief, top diplomat, and grand strategist? He
has been unable to change the climate of Washington, and
economic difficulties have dominated the first two years of
his presidency. But his larger success or failure will
likely hinge as much on foreign policy. In Bending
History? a trio of renowned foreign policy experts
illuminates the grand promise and the great contradictions
of a new president who has captured the attention and
imagination of citizens around the world like few of his
White House predecessors. Conflicting caricatures of Obama miss the mark. The Right
largely believes he is a naïve apologist trying to quash
"American exceptionalism," or at best trying too hard to
meet the demands of his Democratic Party. Conversely, while
many on the Left still see him as a transformational
political figure, the great antidote to George Bush's
unilateralist militarism, others believe he is an
accommodationist who lacks the nerve to end the excesses of
Bush antiterror policies. Not surprisingly, Obama is
substantially more complicated and nuanced than any of these
images allows. Bending History? argues that Obama thus far has,
above all, been a foreign policy pragmatist, tackling one
issue at a time in a thoughtful way. On balance he has been
competent and solid, choosing reasonable policies (or
least-worst options, at least) with an approach typified by
thoroughness, reasonably good teamwork, and flexibility when
needed. The seasoned authors aim to present the first serious
book-length appraisal of Obama's foreign policy. They are
Martin Indyk, a diplomat with great experience in the
volatile region that has seen almost unimaginable political
change in 2011 (the Middle East); Kenneth Lieberthal, an
oft-quoted authority on the historic rise and political
economy of China; and Michael O'Hanlon, an accomplished
analyst of national security policy, particularly the wars
in Iraq and Afghanistan. With fairness and sophistication,
the authors blend their own expertise with access to major
military and diplomatic players at top levels of the
administration. They find little strategic coherence in a
foreign policy that is notable mostly for its individual
initiatives rather than unifying themes, despite what the
persona of Barack Obama himself represents symbolically and
rhetorically.
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