Where do We Place Obama?

            An intriguing part of the lecture was the idea of where to place President Obama between all of these different schools of US foreign policy. He has played an interesting balance between a cosmopolitan diplomat and a realist commander in chief. It is as if President Obama seeks to appease all parties. Heavily involved in diplomacy and our international reputation, he and Secretary of State Clinton take in active role in mending our global paradigm. At the same time however, he did not hesitate in kicking down the door in Pakistan and frequently praises himself as a strong military figure in regards to that operation.

            Obama shows his reverence to American exceptionalism through his speech rhetoric. He often speaks about the United States as the world’s ‘shining city on a hill.’ This idea is expounded through his foreign policy interventionist measures as seen in Libya. Our ideas of peace and democracy are those that should be spread throughout the world. What was specifically interesting to me was neo-conservatist emphasis on regime change and how Obama has fallen into that category.

            It is certainly difficult to place the president neatly into any one of these categories. At times he speaks liberal rhetoric about the role of each country in this global system and at other times he attempts to fend off critical conservatives with his tough military measures. Only time will tell in cases like North Korea and Syria where Obama lies. Perhaps we will see him leaning more towards one side than the other in his potential second term when he won’t have to please as many people.