The Obama Doctrine: Vote “Present” Pt. I
March 16, 2011 4 Comments
Photo courtesy of www.pbs.org
The office of the President of the United States bears an incredible amount of responsibility, both at home and abroad. Part of this responsibility, and probably the most interesting aspect of the presidency, is your personal influence on world affairs. A president’s statements will undoubtedly be broadcast to the world stage, and despite whether other nations actually want to hear your opinion or not, they generally understand that they must heed the U.S. president’s words due to the United States’ recognition as the world’s hegemon. Nations will often publicly condemn US foreign policy decisions and then reverse course and publicly request US guidance and support, sometimes within days or weeks of their original condemnation, based on statements’ and political moves made by the President and his cabinet. Despite some of academia’s disagreement with this assertion, all nations of the world act in their own self-interest (this, for non-IR students, is a major issue between Realist theory and liberalism), thus it best serves nations to listen to and comply with the United States’ stated policy. The hegemonic power of the United States, comprised of both hard and soft power, is in part enforced and maintained through our president’s foreign policy decisions; thus, our American way of life depends on effective and decisive leadership. Unfortunately for our great nation, President Obama resents America’s hegemonic role in the world and has expressed disdain for his foreign policy responsibilities. During every major crisis of his presidency, President Obama has chosen to take the middle ground and both American citizens and inhabitants of other nations are suffering the consequences. Our current president has been the only president during my lifetime who has based every decision on its political impact with regard to his popularity and legacy. Just as Illinois State Senator Obama chose to vote “present” on important legislation, he has chosen to vote “present” on his foreign policy decisions.
Welcome to the Obama Doctrine:
2007- President Obama: “…Barack Obama would meet with Iran’s leaders and offer economic inducements and a possible promise not to seek “regime change” if Iran stopped meddling in Iraq and cooperated on terrorism and nuclear issues.”- interview with NY Times
2008- President Obama: “I intend to close Guantanamo, and I will follow through on that. I have said repeatedly that America doesn’t torture. And I’m gonna make sure that we don’t torture. Those are part and parcel of an effort to regain America’s moral stature in the world.”- interview on 60 Minutes
2009- Gave gifts of 25 classic American DVDs (ones that do not work in GB) and returned a bust of Winston Churchill given to us by the British after 9/11 to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in exchange for a pen made out of the HMS Gannet (an anti-slavery ship), a framed commissioning paper for the HMS Resolute (the ship used to create the president’s desk in the Oval Office) and a first edition copy of Winston Churchill’s biography.
2009- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave Russia a reset button to symbolize a clean slate in our relationship. Unfortunately, the Russian translation of “reset” was incorrect and instead the button read “overcharged.”
2009- President Obama graced Queen Elizabeth II of England with the gift of an Ipod.
2009- The US condemns Israel for commando raid on the six-ship flotilla intending to provide aid to the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip. Israel claims the ships were sent to provide illegal products to the Gaza Strip and that the commandos acted in self-defense. President Obama’s relationship with Israel continues to be strained.
2009- President Obama backs down on implementing the missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland. Part of his effort to reconstitute our relationship with Russia, the decision upset our allies and provided Russia with a major strategic victory.
2009- President Obama does not take decisive action to support the Green Revolution in Iran and the corrupt re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stands. Protestors are violently suppressed and the US releases a statement condemning the violence.
2009-2010- After spending three months reviewing the war in Afghanistan, President Obama increases the troop levels to just over 100,000 without a clearly defined strategy. Then, after publicly stating that the US will not be engaging in a nation-building operation in Afghanistan, continues to have our military build roads, irrigation canals, and put up electric grids.
2009-2010- The US Justice Department decides it will be a good idea to try terrorist detainees from Guantanamo Bay Prison in New York City and Washington, DC. The decision is also made to move the prisoners from Gitmo to a maximum security prison in Illinois. Neither initiative works out and Gitmo remains open and fully functional.
2010- President Obama at the G-20 conference, when asked if he believes in American exceptionalism, “I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.”
2010- President Obama fails to persuade Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt settlement construction in the West Bank and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas states that the talks are in crisis. Obama offers Israel 20 F-35 fighters worth $3 billion to halt settlements for three months but Netanyahu refuses and the talks fail.
2010- President Obama ratifies the START II treaty, drastically reducing our nuclear weapon stockpile. Obama failed to understand that the Russian ICBM stockpile was already outdated and they could not afford to upgrade their weapons. Russia wins again.
2010- A mysterious computer virus hits the Iranian nuclear program and wreaks havoc on their system; the perpetrator(s) are still unknown. President Obama has still neglected to sit down with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and discuss a peaceful solution to our disagreements.
2011- Egypt rises up against their president Hosni Mubarak and President Obama neglects to make a statement until a week after the protests began. He eventually stated he supported democracy and peaceful protest and condemned the use of violence against the protestors. He then came out and stated that Mubarak needed to step down and the world waited. And waited. Finally, Mubarak flees and Egypt becomes a state controlled by the military.
2011- Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi makes the decision to bomb protestors who are rebelling against his government. President Obama does nothing for a few weeks and then publicly condemns Gaddafi and states he must relinquish power. Meanwhile, Gaddafi is massacring thousands of his citizens while the United Nations balks on enforcing a No-Fly Zone (primarily because the US and Russia are not willing to enforce it). More on this next week.
2011- Allegedly expressed to his aides his displeasure with the foreign policy aspect of the presidency and commented on how much easier it would be to be the president of China.
Look for a more in-depth analysis of President Obama’s foreign policy next week in “The Obama Doctrine: Vote “Present” Pt II”.
About VaPatriot
Excellent examples. Hopefully next weeks analysis will include your thoughts on what he should have done for each specific example cited.
Will do. Thanks for reading!
Thank you for putting the events in timeline form as it is clear to myself as a conservative and quite frankly, an American that President Obama’s position of “no position” is weakening our influence as a super power globally. Let’s face it, as the President there is more to sitting in the Oval Office and taking long vacations with his family to give them opportunities, there are the hard decisions of standing up for what is right. The right position isn’t normally the most comfortable or popular however it is necessary; Regan and Bush both did it. Nothing personal against him except he doesn’t have the drive to lead. He wants to “sugar” coat everything from simple economics to world strategies, he wants to be Mr. Popular and get in front of the camera daily. He has continued to stay in campaign mode instead of Presidential mode; and now with 2012 around the corner he will begin his full campaign mode without thoughts to the roles a “real” president has to step up to the plate and carry. In my opinion, he has continually stepped on Isreal and slapped the hands of other world leaders all while giving Russia the prize ticket. Our men and women are still fighting overseas and for what you might ask, peace and world stability … that’s the plan, but President Obama is weakening our position so my thoughts ponder, will all of the time, lives and tax payer money be lost on an idea for democracy without the action of our leader standing behind these countries. Democracy in past history was not achieved through protest without violence; I wish against violence but we must remember Muammar Gaddafi in the face of evil, if he maintains control will hold every rebel responsible and their families with devastating consequences. I believe France this week has issued statements on enforcing a No-Fly Zone (primarily because the US and Russia are not willing to enforce it) which is a refreshing thought and where do we leave Eygpt, are they going towards a democracy after all the protesting or will the slip into a military regime? Countries are rising up in civil wars, Japan has a catastrophic disaster, the United States on the brink of bankruptcy and the American people are voting “present”, we are here wanting stability and are left screaming “can our governing leaders not hear us”? We need a leader, and the United States is left without a true leader … citizens voted for “change” and “hope” from President Obama and we did get change and we are all beginning to feel hopeless in his time of change. I enjoy your site, your writing gives me food for thought and a place to reply and vent.
Wow! As time passes, it is easy to forget all the missed opportunities this administration has had in foreign policy. The economy and his failed domestic policies have caused such angst in recent months that it takes diligent framing of his past failings- lest we fail to make our position on these issues clear in 2012! Thank you vapatriot for keeping record and reference for the hard campaign that is around the corner. It is not lost on any of us that these people constantly re-write and re-invent history to suit themselves and influence the woefully misinformed electorate! God save us from this insanity!