The pros and cons of the Obama doctrine

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the Obama Doctrine in American scientific thought following the end of his two presidential terms. The purpose of the article is to evaluate the period of Obama’s presidency in today’s American political science, in particular, to identify the assessments of the correlation between his program and the real political course. The research is based on the original theoretical basis of studying of the Obama Doctrine. The main issues described in the article are the following: features of the US foreign policy ideology which are traditional and constant, regardless of the ruling administration; the things «inherited» by the Obama Administration from the predecessor; the major achievements and mistakes in foreign policy which may be related to the period of 2009–2017. After the 9/11 attacks the fighting radical jihadists has become a top priority of American politics. Regional peace, prosperity, democracy and human rights were also important. The President has refused or allowed only a minimal military intervention in subsequent years. The President’s national security instruments became sanctions and negotiations. To judge the President’s management of the foreign policy it is important to follow such criteria as the ability to fulfil what was promised, to weaken the country’s enemies and to strengthen the allies, to develop a concept based on American interests, which should appear to be convincing and true and to get to the right course on a global scale. The change of the balance from periphery to the core created a vacuum of force, which was filled with ISIL. All the options offered by Obama have let the country’s enemies to believe that they can do whatever they want. And his disbelief in traditional allies has raised the question of the value of being an ally of the United States. However, Barack Obama, after the inheritance of the two wars and the global economic crisis during the George W. Bush Administration, has brought the country out of some of the old problems, avoiding falling into the trap of new ones. There were mistakes and lost opportunities. But, as George W. Bush and B. Clinton, Obama gave the successor a general foreign policy program and national power in a better state than when he came to power.