US FOREIGN POLICY IN THE AGE OF GLOBAL UNCERTAINTY:THEOBAMA ERA BETWEEN THE TEA PARTY-LED OPPOSITION ANDTHE GLOBAL POWER SHIFT IN THE WORLD POLITICS

• Main Author: Ömer Kurtbağ
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Social Sciences Research Society 2011-07-01
• Series: International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanity Studies
• Online Access: http://www.sobiad.org/ejournals/journal_IJSS/arhieves/2011_2/omer_kurtbag.pdf

This paper seeks to examine the US foreign policy under Obama by first trying toexplore the rhetorical and practical changes brought by his administration toAmerican foreign policy making and then questioninghis track record in the wakeof both the growing tide of Tea Party-led politicalopposition to his policies andthe rise of Asian nations such as China and India.Its central assumptions are asfollows: Firstly, Obama’s foreign policy presents amix of apparent failures onmany key issues and rare achievements in some international crises. It is arguablethat Obama has been unable to pursue his own liberal-Democrat agenda so far andinstead maintained Bush-style “hard power-oriented”policies. Secondly, as arapidly rising opposition force, the American rightis still powerful enough, with apotential to revitalize a third and Tea Party-led rise of the movement, to reshapethe US politics. Thirdly, the study discusses how Obama views the emergence ofAsia, as a challenge or opportunity, and how he managed the transformation ofworld politics in the light of this global power shift. It concludes that US policiesshould adapt to these new realities of the world order if a peaceful transformationis sought.