The Obama Doctrine

A Legacy of Continuity in US Foreign Policy?

Michelle Bentley, Jack Holland, Michelle Bentley, Jack Holland

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781138831223
• eBook ISBN: 9781317551690
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

President Obama's first term in office was subject to intense criticism; not only did many feel that he had failed to live up to his leadership potential, but that he had actually continued the foreign policy framework of the George W. Bush era he was supposed to have abandoned. This edited volume examines whether these issues of continuity have been equally as prevalent during the president's second term as his first.

Is Obama still acting within the foreign policy shadow of Bush, or has he been able to establish his own approach towards international affairs, distinct from his predecessor? Within this context, the volume also addresses the idea of legacy and whether Obama has succeeded in establishing his own distinct foreign policy doctrine. In addressing these questions, the chapters explore continuity and change from a range of perspectives in International Relations and Foreign Policy Analysis, which are broadly representative of a spectrum of theoretical positions.

With contributions from a range of US foreign policy experts, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of US foreign policy, Foreign Policy Analysis and American politics.

Routledge Studies in US Foreign Policy

Edited by Inderjeet Parmar

City University

and

John Dumbrell

University of Durham

This new series sets out to publish high quality works by leading and emerging scholars critically engaging with United States Foreign Policy. The series welcomes a variety of approaches to the subject and draws on scholarship from international relations, security studies, international political economy, foreign policy analysis and contemporary international history.

Subjects covered include the role of administrations and institutions, the media, think tanks, ideologues and intellectuals, elites, transnational corporations, public opinion, and pressure groups in shaping foreign policy, US relations with individual nations, with global regions and global institutions and America’s evolving strategic and military policies.

The series aims to provide a range of books – from individual research monographs and edited collections to textbooks and supplemental reading for scholars, researchers, policy analysts, and students.

Democracy Promotion, National Security and Strategy

Foreign policy under the Reagan Administration

Robert Pee

Democracy Promotion as US Foreign Policy

Bill Clinton and democratic enlargement

Nicolas Bouchet

US Democracy Promotion in the Middle East

The pursuit of hegemony

Dionysis Markakis

Anti-Americanism and the Limits of Public Diplomacy

Winning hearts and minds?

Stephen Brooks

American Grand Strategy and Corporate Elite Networks

The open door since the end of the Cold War

Bastiaan Van Apeldoorn and Naná de Graaff

Risk and Presidential Decision-making

The emergence of foreign policy crises

Luca Trenta

Clinton, New Terrorism and the Origins of the War on Terror

Chin-Kuei Tsui

The Obama Doctrine

A legacy of continuity in US foreign policy?

Edited by Michelle Bentley and Jack Holland

The Obama Doctrine

A legacy of continuity in US foreign policy?

Edited by

Michelle Bentley

and Jack Holland

First published 2017

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge

605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 2017 selection and editorial matter, Michelle Bentley and Jack Holland; individual chapters, the contributors

The right of Michelle Bentley and Jack Holland to be identified as authors of the editorial matter, and of the individual authors as authors of their contributions, has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Names: Bentley, Michelle, editor. | Holland, Jack, 1947– editor.

Title: The Obama Doctrine : a legacy of continuity in US foreign policy? /

edited by Michelle Bentley and Jack Holland.

Description: New York : Routledge, 2016. | Series: Routledge studies in

US foreign policy | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016024036 | ISBN 9781138831223 (hardback) |

ISBN 9781315731346 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: United States–Foreign relations–2009– | Obama,

Barack–Influence. | War on Terrorism, 2001–2009–Influence.

Classification: LCC E907 .O2215 2016 | DDC 327.73009/05–dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016024036

ISBN: 978-1-138-83122-3 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-315-73134-6 (ebk)

DOI: 10.4324/9781315731346

Typeset in Times New Roman

by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear

Contents

• List of contributors
• Introduction JACK HOLLAND AND MICHELLE BENTLEY
• PART I Power and tradition: situating Obama’s foreign policy
  • 1 Ending ‘permanent war’: security and economy under Obama NICHOLAS KITCHEN
  • 2 Restraint and constraint: a cautious president in a time of limits ADAM QUINN
  • 3 Obama as modern Jeffersonian JACK HOLLAND
• PART II The language and culture of the war on terror
  • 4 Ending the unendable: the rhetorical legacy of the war on terror MICHELLE BENTLEY
  • 5 War on terror II: Obama and the adaptive evolution of US counterterrorism RICHARD JACKSON AND CHIN-KUEI TSUI
  • 6 Shifting binaries: the colonial legacy of Obama’s war on terror BEN FERMOR
  • 7 Identity, affective attachments, and US–Iranian nuclear politics TY SOLOMON
• PART III Obama’s major challenges
  • 8 Plus ça change? Reflecting on Obama’s nuclear agenda andlegacy JASON DOUGLAS AND ANDREW FUTTER
  • 9 The assassin in chief: Obama’s drone legacy CHRISTOPHER FULLER
  • 10 Hard choices in democracy promotion: Obama and Egy...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Frontmatter 1
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of contributors
• Introduction—JACK HOLLAND AND MICHELLE BENTLEY
• PART I Power and tradition: situating Obama’s foreign policy
• PART II The language and culture of the war on terror
• PART III Obama’s major challenges
• PART IV The Obama doctrine: its place in history
• Index