Barack Obama's Post-American Foreign Policy: The Limits of Engagement

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After one of the most controversial and divisive periods in the history of American foreign policy under President George W. Bush, the Obama administration was expected to make changes for the better in US relations with the wider world. Now, international problems confronting Obama appear more intractable, and there seems to be a marked continuity in policies between Obama and his predecessor. Robert Singh argues that Obama's approach of 'strategic engagement' was appropriate for a new era of constrained internationalism, but it has yielded modest results. Obama's search for the pragmatic middle has cost him political support at home and abroad, whilst failing to make decisive gains. Singh suggests by calibrating his foreign policies to the emergence of a 'post-American'world, the president has yet to preside over a renaissance of US global leadership. Ironically,Obama's policies have instead hastened the arrival of a post-American world. Cover Half-Title Title Page Copyright Page Contents List of Tables Preface and Acknowledgments 1 A Post-American Foreign Policy for the Post-American World Introduction Audacious No Longer: From the Fierce Urgency of Now to the Timidity of "Hope" Contextualizing Obama Plan of the Book 2 The "Human Ink-Blot": Obama, Foreign Policy and the 2008 Election Introduction "I've Got a Confusion on Obama": Cosmopolitan, Liberal Internationalist, Realist, Reaganite, Leftist? The Stealth Candidate: Symbolism as Strategy (Hope) and Substance (Change) Commander-in-Chief/Cosmopolitan-in-Chief Conclusion 3 The Obama Doctrine: "Leading From Behind" Introduction Obama's Grand Strategy: Engagement Implementing Strategic Engagement (2009–12) The Conservative Critique: Obama and the End of American Exceptionalism Conclusion 4 Afghanistan, Pakistan and the War on Terror Introduction Un-Declaring the War on Terror From the Team of Rivals to Rival Teams Pakistan: Failing State of Terror Conclusion: the Limits of Strategic Engagement in South Asia 5 Iran Introduction Extending a Hand, Unclenching a Fist: Towards a "Grand Bargain" The Iranian Presidential Election Crisis of 2009 From Engagement to Sanctions to Regime Change Evaluating Obama's Iran Strategy Iraq Conclusion: the Limits of Strategic Engagement with Iran 6 Israel, Palestine and the Arab Spring Introduction Obama's Strategic Options Israel and the Palestinian Territories The Arab Spring: the Inevitable Surprise Egypt Libya Syria Conclusion: the Limits of Strategic Engagement in the Middle East 7 China Introduction US China Strategy for the 2010s: Peaceful Rise, Post-Ascent Aggression or Unpeaceful Collapse? Obama and China: from Engagement to Hedging Economic Relations Chinese Military Developments: Enter the Dragon Taiwan Conclusion: the Limits of Strategic Engagement with China 8 Russia Introduction Resetting Russian-American Relations Missile Defense, New START, and Afghanistan Missile Defense New START Afghanistan, Central Asia and the "Post-Soviet Space" Resetting the Reset? Conclusion: the Limits of Strategic Engagement with Russia 9 Keep the Change: Continuity We Can Believe In Introduction The Four Limits of Strategic Engagement Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z