Politics
Understanding the ‘Obama doctrine’
When President Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, he bluntly told the committee: “There will be times when nations – acting individually or in concert – will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified.”
It was a blunt assessment of the president’s pragmatic foreign policy vision, and one which has become increasingly apparent this year.
Mr Obama last week announced the long-awaited end to the war in Iraq, just a day after his administration’s approach saw a definitive end to Muammer Gaddafi’s regime in Libya.
This comes on top of a good few months for Mr Obama in the foreign policy sphere. The president, who has variously been accused of “leading from behind” and dithering, ordered a brazen raid that took out Osama bin Laden.