Michael Moodian: Obama has done little to distance himself from his predecessor

PanARMENIAN.Net - What is the Obama Doctrine? Is there a unifying principle or philosophy that guides the president's foreign policy decisions? These are the questions Dr. Michael A. Moodian raises in the article he titled “What drives Obama's foreign policy?”

“Candidate Barack Obama gave Americans the impression that he would rely on compromise and negotiation rather than bluster and confrontation in his dealings abroad. He criticized severely the policies of the George W. Bush administration. Since taking office, however, he has done little to distance himself from his predecessor in the foreign policy arena. We are still engaged in costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay continues to operate. Our men and women are dying in Afghanistan as Afghans participate in corrupt elections, and President Hamid Karzai fuels violent protests,” says the article published by The Orange County Register.

“Now, despite a sluggish domestic economy and no imminent threat against the United States, over a half-billion dollars has been spent, to date, on bombs, cruise missiles and a crashed fighter jet during the Libya campaign. Under the guiding theory for intervening in Libya, shouldn't we also engage in Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad has resorted to violence and cruelty against pro-democracy demonstrators? How about Yemen and Bahrain? The French deployed troops to the Ivory Coast to assist the United Nations. Will we follow?” it says.

“President Obama seemed to define his strategy of oversees involvement when he recently addressed the nation about Libya. "There will be times, though, when our safety is not directly threatened, but our interests and our values are," he said. Obama's foreign policy philosophy should be the topic of intense debate during the coming election season, as the president who opposed the Iraq war as a legislator now has a record as commander-in-chief to run on and defend,” the article goes on.

“Ultimately, the turmoil of the recent months should lead us to seriously consider what our responsibility to the world is. Certainly, we can't be a global policeman, but what if we can assist in preventing war crimes and ethnic cleansing abroad? In hindsight, how much of a difference could we have made if we would have intervened when the horrors of the Armenian Genocide and other atrocities were committed?

For now, we have more questions than answers,” it concludes.

Dr. Michael A. Moodian is an author, professor and entrepreneur based in Southern California. He has served on the faculty of Chapman University since 2007. Currently, he is an assistant professor of social science at Chapman-affiliated Brandman University, a writing instructor at the Argyros School of Business and Economics and a research analyst at the Center for Sustainable Living. This year, Michael launched a new business venture, Global Academic Conferences.