This Improbable Quest, by John Wilson: on Foreign Policy

No Obama Doctrine; just democracy, security, liberty

Obama’s failure to condemn all military action has led to criticism from some on the left. One critic noted: “He accepts the Bush Doctrine. He accepts the doctrine of preemptive strikes.”

The key part of the Bush Doctrine is the focus on unilateral action and the use of force to spread democracy around the world. And the worst part of the Bush administration is not the Bush Doctrine but Bush’s implementation of it.

As Obama famously declared in 2002, he did not oppose all wars, but he did oppose a “dumb war.” Isolationism must not be the reaction to a dumb president and a dumb war.

There is no Obama Doctrine because Obama is not a doctrinaire kind of leader who operates according to fixed policies. Instead, Obama believes in a set of principle (democracy, security, liberty) for the world and tries to come up with practical measures for incrementally increasing US security and global freedom. He rejects isolationism and he tries to steer clear of unilateralism.

Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.117-118 Oct 30, 2007

Wrote 2006 law stabilizing Congo with $52M

Obama wrote the law signed in 2006 that provided $52 million in US assistance to help stabilize the Congo, and he worked to approve $20 million for the African Union peacekeeping mission. Obama also worked with Sam Brownback (R-Kans.), writing an op-ed in the Washington Post criticizing the Bush administration’s failure to stop genocide in Darfur. Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.160 Oct 30, 2007

The above quotations are from Barack Obama: This Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson. Click here for definitions & background information on Foreign Policy. Click here for other issues (main summary page). Click here for more quotes by Barack Obama on Foreign Policy.
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