Limited Achievements: Obama's Foreign Policy (Sciences Po Series in International Relations and Political Economy)

Barack Obama is inspired by a realist vision of the global order. His ambition is to preserve America's great power status and make it acceptable to the rest of the world. He no longer wants his country to serve as the world's policeman. However, he has no intention of letting another country displace the United States. His scope of action lies between these two limits: he has no grand design, nor is he willing to take any great risks. Through an analysis of the general principles of Obama's foreign policy, LaIdi shows how Obama has charted a realist course in the Middle East, in Europe, in diplomacy, and in war.