The Obama Doctrine and Military Intervention

Authors : Georg LÖFFLMAN

Pages : 59-82

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Publication Date : 2019-10-01

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This article examines the interplay of discourse and practice in American grand  strategy under President Obama. A particular focus is the trajectory of military  intervention, from the ‘surge’ in Afghanistan to the campaign against DAESH, and  how competing discourses of hegemony, engagement and restraint have informed  U.S. national security policy and the application of military power. The paper  analyses how President Obama followed a post-American vision of hegemony  intended to lower the financial and human cost of American primacy through  burden sharing and ‘leading from behind.’ This strategy resulted in a recalibration  of American military power that shifted its emphasis to covert operations, and the use  of drones and Special Forces in combating terrorism, while ultimately prioritizing  the Asia-Pacific over the Middle East as region of vital strategic interest to the  U.S. Oscillating between limited engagement and extraction from the latter region  however, undermined America’s leadership position both at home and abroad.
Keywords : Grand strategy, national security, discourse, military intervention, Barack Obama