Poor Obama!

Gibson, Bryan R. (2011) Poor Obama! International Affairs at LSE (31 Jan 2011). Website.

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I feel quite sorry for the hand that the Obama administration has been dealt in its first term. After all, he came to office during the worst economic crisis the world has seen since the 1930s, the American economy was virtually bankrupt, America is completely divided politically, and he faces Republican obstructionism. And these are but a sampling of his domestic problems. In the international realm, Obama has tackled a number of issues, but nothing as chaotic and potentially dangerous as the present crises in the Arab world. The crisis that Obama now faces is perhaps the most challenging foreign policy crisis since the Islamic revolution of 1979. A tectonic shift could be taking place in the region with pro-American autocrats being replaced by popular, though potentially radical, governments.Tunisia led the way; Egypt is attempting to follow; Jordan is facing protests, of great concern, now Yemen is also revolting. The latter of these is clearly the most dangerous of them all with the presence of al-Qaida, but that is not my focus here. Moving on, the crisis that President Obama faces is a foreign policy nightmare unlike anything since the Iranian revolution. And just as Jimmy Carter was in 1979, Barack Obama is now in the unenviable position of having to choose between maintaining support for its regional allies or abandon them in the face of popular, grass-root, largely democratic uprisings.

Item Type:	Online resource (Website)
Official URL:	http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/ideas/
Additional Information:	© 2011 The Author(s)
Divisions:	IGA: LSE IDEAS
Subjects:	J Political Science > JK Political institutions (United States) J Political Science > JZ International relations
Date Deposited:	03 Jul 2017 10:26
Last Modified:	13 Sep 2024 18:02
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/83031

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