Entangled Alliances: Obama and the Challenges of American Foreign Relations

Foreign policy was the outstanding issue of the 2008 election, as it was in 2004. Terrorism and the wars of the past decade brought international relations to the forefront of politics to an extent not seen since Vietnam. Like his rival John McCain, Senator Barack Obama made a great effort to distinguish himself from unpopular foreign policies. For this reason, Obama's campaign indicated more what he was against than what he was for in international relations. He announced a commitment to talk with former enemies, without revealing much about what such talks would resolve. Once in office, President Obama's choice of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State suggested a desire to continue in the directions mapped out by his Democratic predecessor, which emphasized negotiations over warfare. However, despite these and other steps, President Obama has not yet mapped out a coherent foreign policy. He has undone some of President Bush's policies, but not yet forged a new direction or any significant new initiatives. All of this should be much clearer by the time that the AHA meets in January 2010. But this paper will set out some of the broad questions that have bedeviled U.S. foreign policy since 1945 and that, to be successful, President Obama will have to address. These include: what should be the limits and purpose of the U.S. interventions overseas; how can the U.S. share the burdens and costs of leadership with other nations; and how can the U.S. distinguish between policies that promote its values, and those that build upon an emerging global consensus. Such an analysis will help us understand what Obama should have learned from history, and evaluate what he has.