Barack Obama, the Idealistic Realist, 2009–2017, Part II: Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Global Problems

Abstract

Barack Obama entered the White House intending to emulate the more realistic foreign policy philosophy of the first President Bush without abandoning American ideals. However, more often than not, his foreign policies reflected the greater emphasis he placed on realistic rather than idealistic considerations. In Europe, Obama had to counter Russia’s challenge to NATO and the liberal international order. In Latin America, Obama ignored liberal values in order to obtain the cooperation of corrupt and repressive governments in halting the movement of illegal drugs and migrants into the United States. In sub-Saharan Africa, he implemented a number of noteworthy humanitarian aid programs, but was more concerned with assisting friendly African governments resist terrorist groups. Finally, Obama attempted to ameliorate a number of ominous global problems, including climate change, nuclear weapons proliferation, and the negative effects of globalization.

For Further Reading

Among the Obama biographies that have appeared so far, one of the best is David Maraniss’s Barack Obama: The Story (2012). See also Obama’s Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (2004).

Early studies of Obama’s presidency are provided by James A. Thurber, Obama in Office (2011); and Stephen J. Wayne, Personality and Politics: Obama for and Against Himself (2012).

Among the books dealing with Obama’s foreign policies are James Mann’s, The Obamians: The Struggle Inside The White House to Redefine American Power (2012); and Martin Indyk, Bending History: Barack Obama’s Foreign Policy (2012). Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Hard Choices (2014) is an account of her years as Obama’s first secretary of state. John Kerry, Obama’s second secretary of state, is in the process of writing his memoir, which will be published by Simon and Schuster.

Another insider view is provided by Derek Chollet’s, The Long Game: How Obama Defied Washington and Redefined America’s Role in the World (2016). More critical viewpoints are provided by Robert J. Lieber’s, Retreat and Its Consequences: American Foreign Policy and the Problem of World Order (2016); Colin Dueck’s, The Obama Doctrine: American Grand Strategy Today (2015); Sean Kay’s, America’s Search for Security: The Triumph of Idealism and the Return of Realism (2014); and Thomas J. Wright’s, All Measures Short of War: The Contest for the 21st Century and the Future of American Power (2017). See also Mark Landler, Alter Egos: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and the Twilight Struggle over American Power (2016).

For Obama’s early decision to escalate US military involvement in Afghanistan, see Bob Woodward, Obama’s Wars (2010). For his policies toward Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, see David Fitzgerald and David Ryan, Obama, US Foreign Policy and the Dilemmas of Intervention (2014). See also Lloyd C. Gardner, Killing Machine: The American Presidency in the Age of Drone Warfare (2013).

For area studies, see Trita Parsi, Losing and Enemy: Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy (2017); Angela E. Stent, The Limits of Partnership: U.S.–Russian Relations in the Twenty-First Century (2014); and Thomas J. Christensen, The China Challenge: Shaping the Choices of a Rising Power (2015).