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Obama: The Reluctant Realist

By June 7, 2015
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. - President Barack Obama waves to guests and service members as he exits Air Force One aboard Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Sept. 26. Obama stopped to thank Marines for their military service and greet guests before leaving for a campaign stop in La Jolla, Calif.

Mideast Security and Policy Studies No. 113

 

In this provocative study, Prof. Steven David of Johns Hopkins argues that, contrary to the assertion that Barack Obama’s foreign policy lacks direction or ideological basis, the president’s foreign policy can be explained as adhering very closely to traditional realist theory. Obama’s key foreign policy decisions, including the pivot to Asia, the handling of Iran’s nuclear program, the reaction to Russian intervention in Ukraine, and the response to the “Arab Spring,” were all consistent with realism. The study also considers the implications of this for Israel. Prof. David asserts that while a realist foreign policy is not necessarily an admirable one, critics of Obama’s foreign policy should recognize their objections are as much with realism as they are with the President.

Read the article online.

To order a hard copy, contact the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies to provide your mailing address.

(Photo Credit: Freedom House- Flicker)

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