The Obama Doctrine: American Grand Strategy Today

337 Pages·2015·4.31 MB·English

by  Colin Dueck

The Obama Doctrine

THE OBAMA DOCTRINE
American Grand Strategy Today
COLIN DUECK
1
3
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This book is dedicated to
my wife Kirsten and our son Jack

C O N T E N T S
Acknowledgments  ix
Introduction  1
1. Barack Obama and American Grand Strategy  13
Grand Strategies in the American Experience  14
Obama’s Place in American Politics  25
Obama’s Grand Strategy  33
2. International Accommodation and Retrenchment  41
Obama’s Incoming Strategy  42
Counterterrorism  48
Nuclear Weapons and Rogue States  57
Great Power Competitors  65
The Arab Spring  75
US Allies, Defense Spending, and Offshore Balancing  91
The Problem with the Obama Doctrine  100
3. The Domestic Politics of the Obama Doctrine  109
Public Opinion  110
Party Politics  116
Electoral Politics  129
Congressional Politics  138
Presidential Leadership  144
Looking Ahead to 2016  152
vii
4. Republican Alternatives to the Obama Doctrine  155
Conservative Anti-interventionists  159
Conservative Internationalists  168
Conservative Nationalists  176
Foreign Policy in the 2016 Elections  186
5. Conservative American Realism  197
First Things First  198
Allies and Adversaries  213
Strategies of Pressure  218
Trade Policy  239
The Lessons of Iraq  241
Presidential Leadership  247
Notes  259
Bibliography  287
Index to Names of Authors in Notes  311
Subject Index 315
viii | Contents
A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S
Since 2008, my understanding of American foreign policy has
been enriched by discussions, interviews, panels, debates, and
conversations with a diverse group of people whose opinions
I respect—even when we do not always agree. An incomplete
list of such people would have to include Elliot Abrams, David
Adesnik, A. T. Alden, Robert Art, Michael Barone, Peter Beinart,
Peter Berkowitz, Dan Blumenthal, John Bolton, Hal Brands,
Christopher Bright, Shawn Brimley, Ted Bromund, Chris Brose,
Ian Brzezinski, Mark Brzezinski, Jonathan Burks, Jim Carafano,
Eliot Cohen, Bridge Colby, Ryan Crocker, Tom Davis, Daniel
Deudney, Tom Donnelly, Michael Doran, Daniel Drezner,
Mackenzie Eaglen, Nicholas Eberstadt, Eric Edelman, Drew
Erdmann, Peter Feaver, Zhu Feng, Jamie Fly, Aaron Friedberg,
David Frum, Francis Fukuyama, John Gaddis, Adam Garfinkle,
Michael Gerson, James Goldgeier, Fred Greenstein, Jakub Grygiel,
Nick Gvosdev, Richard Haass, Mary Habeck, Stephen Hadley,
Jacob Heilbrunn, Charles Hill, John Hillen, Kim Holmes, Brian
Hook, Michael Horowitz, Will Inboden, Fred Kagan, Robert
Karem, Mark Katz, Zachary Keck, Charles Kesler, Greg Koblentz,
Andrew Krepinevich, Sarah Kreps, Bill Kristol, Matt Kroenig,
Charles Kupchan, James Kurth, Jim Lacey, Mark Lagon, Chris
Layne, Daniel Leger, Paul Lettow, Robert Lieber, Tod Lindberg,
Fred Logevall, Becky Lollar, Rich Lowry, Alan Luxenberg, Tom
ix