Foreign Policy and the Election Essay

President Obama entered office in January 2009 with a full plate of hard choice to make in order to get the United States stronger, better, and most importantly safer. Knowing that Osama Bin Laden was still a free man in the world made the fear of many especially in American great. President Obama knew it was his duty while in office to hunt down and capture or kill Bin Laden for not only the crimes that Bin Laden had committed against American, but as well as crimes

Throughout the course of history, the United States has remained consistent with its national interest by taking many different actions in foreign policy. There have been both immediate and long term results of these actions. Foreign policy is the United States policy that defines how we deal with other countries economically and politically. It is made by congress, the president, and the people. Some of the motivations for United States foreign policy are national security, economics, and idealism. The United States entry into World War I in 1917 and the escalation of the Vietnam War in 1964 and the both had great impact on the United States.

This biography offers insight into the personal and public lives of two men who so initially agreed then feverishly denied each other’s foreign policy proposals. Concluding with Nitze, as the hawk and Kennan, starring as the dove.

President Obama came into office in the aftermath of the disastrous foreign policy record of the Bush administration. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 had served as a “switchman,” leading to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Bush administration exercised unilateral use of force and reluctance to engage the international community. As a result global elites and publics viewed the US unfavorably. The US economy was negatively affected by the costs of the wars coupled with the financial crisis of 2007. It was this environment that defined the contours of the election campaign of 2008. Obama campaigned on the idea of change, which represented a regeneration of America through domestic public policy reform and a return to multilateralism in foreign policy. Both domestic and international publics and elites were galvanized by Obama’s message.

American foreign policy relates to what is done in foreign countries by the United States of America. The foreign policies include controlling of the governments of foreign countries or setting some rules in those countries. The foreign policy of America has always been changing all through the US existence. The changes have stemmed from the dynamics of exogenous and substantial influences of watershed up to the international system and also the effects and changes of endogenous inside the government of the United States. Outstanding assertions like the policies of Monroe, intercontinental encounters such as the Second World War, War of the Spanish and Americans, and the cold war and also conflicts that were termed as local including the Korean War and the Vietnam War considerably shaped the American foreign policy (Kissinger et al., 1969).

There is every sign that Barack Obama is placing the bleak economic situation at the top of his agenda, despite a number of problematic foreign policy challenges being in his in-tray when he arrived at the White House. Indeed, it would appear that on some key issues such as human rights abuses in China, the new US President is subordinating previously stated policy priorities in favor of forging stronger relations with foreign powers.

The presidency of the United States has gone through a transformation in the ability to direct the nation and preform executive actions to help shape the country. Well renowed political sciencetist and author, Stephen Skowronek mentions in his book The Poltics Presidents Make, a presidents main priority is to be agents of political change who depend on prior presidencies to help guide their policy agenda for their respective term. Unlike Bill Clinton or other preemptive presidents, President Obama used his initial term to fix the ongoing problems from that of the Bush administration. He clearly put his ambitions for the nation aside just to combat what was at hand. Due to this, Obama is best categorized as a reconstructive leader who was chosen by the American populate to change the system put in place by the George W. Bush and to build a new political regime. Starting right from his campaign, President Obama fought to distance himself from the previous era that showed to be a major disappointment to the American citizens. Obama sought to make a new reconstructive period for the United States. Clearly not a “hard case,” President Obama has taken advantage of all his resources in the opening years of his first term in office in order to revamp the political landscape of America.

There were many issues Obama had to handle when he first took office as President. One was the economy which the country was suffering in a recession. Democrats defended Obama arguing that it was under President Bush that the economy was so terrible while Republicans argued that Obama had not done enough to fix the economy. Republicans also criticized Obama for being passive and apologetic with international relations with the Middle East and Russia. Obama and the Democrats did argue however that Obama’s Health Care plan would bring

By recognizing the need for compromise early on, the U.S. would have been able to ensure enough attention and resources were geared towards domestic issues. The Johnson administration felt the consequences of this lesson at full force when trying to establish the “great society”. Although, Johnson’s main focus was to embrace the “great society” agenda in the united states he was severely hindered by his commitment to Saigon. President Obama seems to recognize the importance of public opinion as shown through his decision to pull American soldiers out of Yemen due to the unstable conditions. Even though a retreat provides for an opportunity to destabilize the country further, he chose to recognize the safety of his people first. By showing that he is aware of our limits he is protecting the American people.

. . . There may be a point of diminishing returns"(Washington Post). Obama seems to have changed his mind since then. This is evident as he has ordered the forces in Afghanistan to be tripled. He seems to think that more troops is in fact the answer. In my opinion its not the amount of soldiers we send that is a problem, its the time frame in which they will be there.

In 2008, Barrack Hussein Obama was elected as the 44th President of the United States of America. Obama is the first biracial President of the United States in history that was inaugurated on January 20, 2009. Prior to becoming the president, Obama served three terms as a senator of Illinois. Obama was elected as a member from the Democratic Party and defeated the republican candidate John McCain. Four years later, he was reelected as president of the United States as he beat the Republican candidate Mitt Romney. During President Obama’s presidency, there has been a lot of controversy over his foreign policies. In particular, Obama’s policies in the Middle East have been subjective as proponents and opponents argue over its effectiveness.

Over the past year, there have been numerous problems both home and abroad that have given President Barack Obama plenty of gray hairs. Coming up on the year 's end and midterm elections, Obama 's approval rating has hit an all time low. While he tries to aid his fellow democrats, he may actually be hurting them. It is important for the president to have as many like minded individuals in office with him, so that they can help him in return. However it does not help the cause if the same people voting do not approve of Mr. Obama. As seen in recent polls, his approval rating is hitting a new low, showing the people 's distrust in the president for how he has handled situations such as immigration, both wars in the Ukraine and Syria, reforming Obamacare, and aiding in the student loan crisis.

The government in the United States supposedly revolves around American ideals such as equality and diversity; however, this is simply not the case as perpetuated by class inequalities. The meaning of democracy has been skewed in the United States to represent something entirely different than it did in 1776. Today, American democracy behaves more like an aristocracy, where the upper class exercises power within the government and state, influencing discourse and therefore the laws and resources in our country, which are purportedly “for the people”. Democracy is presumed to provide everyone with equal political power, but the government in today’s America, although seemingly following this ideal model, does not. Instead, the elite upper class has a monopoly over the political influence and are the sole benefactors from public policies due to their influence over the policy making process. The upper class has an overall benefit from class inequality, as it greatly impacts American ‘democracy’ through the significant power gained through money and status, leadership roles that impact government, and the influence in the policymaking process that creates upper class advantages.

First off, Obama has succeeded in many aspects of his goals in foreign policies. For example, some of Obamas successes would be the killing of Osama Bin Laden, minimizing the fight against Al Qaeda in the middle east, and also ending the war in Iraq. Obama has succeeded in all of these things, because of the help of the notional defense and other government officials. He has also sent more troops to Afghanistan in order to prevent the resurfacing of Al Qaeda to protect the

Although the aspirations and goals of states are often motivated by external political pressures, analysis of recent foreign policy decisions demonstrates how internal political forces can play equally crucial roles in the pursuit and execution of these objectives. Thus, it would be invalid to claim that domestic politics and the nature of regimes play minor roles in either the goals a state pursues or the means it employs to reach them. By understanding how the diffusion of power in governments affect policy decisions, one can develop increased awareness of the linkages that exist between the internal pressures of domestic politics and the external forces of foreign politics.