Michelle Bentley - The Obama Doctrine: A Legacy of Continuity in US Foreign Policy?

This edited volume is an innovative analysis of President Barack Obamas foreign security and counter-terrorism policy, specifically within the context of ending the now infamous War on Terror. The book adopts a comparative approach, analysing change and continuity in US foreign policy during Obamas first term in office vis--vis the foreign policy of the War on Terror, initiated by George W. Bush following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. Despite being heralded as an agent of change, since his election in 2008 Obama has faced criticism that his foreign policy is effectively the same as what went before and that the War on Terror is still alive and well. Far from delivering wholesale change, Obama has been accused of replicating and even reinforcing the approach, language and policies that many anticipated he would reject. With contributions from a range of US foreign policy experts, this volume analyses the extent to which these criticisms of continuity are correct, identifying how the failure to end the War on Terror is manifest and explaining the reasons that have made enacting change in foreign policy so difficult. In addressing these issues, contributions to this volume will discuss continuity and change from a range of perspectives in International Relations and Foreign Policy Analysis.

This work will be of great interest to students and scholars of US foreign policy, Security Studies and American politics.

Michelle Bentley is a lecturer in International Relations at Royal Holloway, University of London. She specialises in US foreign policy and international security, especially where this relates to the construction of, and policy responses to, extreme threats. In particular, she is interested in weapons of mass destruction and mass fatality terrorism.

Jack Holland is Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Surrey. His research broadly focuses on foreign and security policy. In particular his expertise lies in American, British and Australian foreign policy, especially during the War on Terror. He is also interested in critical approaches in International Relations, such as constructivism.

Edited by: Inderjeet Parmar, City University and John Dumbrell, University of Durham

This new series sets out to publish high quality works by leading and emerging scholars critically engaging with United States Foreign Policy. The series welcomes a variety of approaches to the subject and draws on scholarship from international relations, security studies, international political economy, foreign policy analysis and contemporary international history.

Subjects covered include the role of administrations and institutions, the media, think tanks, ideologues and intellectuals, elites, transnational corporations, public opinion, and pressure groups in shaping foreign policy, US relations with individual nations, with global regions and global institutions and Americas evolving strategic and military policies.

The series aims to provide a range of books from individual research monographs and edited collections to textbooks and supplemental reading for scholars, researchers, policy analysts and students.

New Directions in US Foreign Policy
Edited by Inderjeet Parmar, Linda B. Miller and Mark Ledwidge

Americas Special Relationships
Foreign and domestic aspects of the Politics of Alliance
Edited by John Dumbrell and Axel R Schfer

US Foreign Policy in Context
National Ideology from the Founders to the Bush Doctrine
Adam Quinn

The United States and NATO since 9/11
The Transatlantic Alliance renewed
Ellen Hallams

Soft Power and US Foreign Policy
Theoretical, historical and contemporary perspectives
Edited by Inderjeet Parmar and Michael Cox

American Foreign Policy and Postwar Reconstruction
Comparing Japan and Iraq
Jeff Bridoux

Neoconservatism and American Foreign Policy
A critical analysis
Danny Cooper

US Policy Towards Cuba
Since the Cold War
Jessica F. Gibbs

Constructing US Foreign Policy
The curious case of Cuba
David Bernell

Race and US Foreign Policy
The African-American Foreign Affairs Network
Mark Ledwidge

Prevention, Pre-Emption and the Nuclear Option
From Bush to Obama
Aiden Warren

The Origins of the US War on Terror
Lebanon, Libya and American Intervention in the Middle East
Mattia Toaldo

US Foreign Policy and Democracy Promotion
From Theodore Roosevelt to Barack Obama
Edited by Michael Cox, Timothy J. Lynch and Nicolas Bouchet

Local Interests and American Foreign Policy
Why international interventions fail
Karl Sandstrom

The Obama Administrations Nuclear Weapon Strategy
The promises of Prague
Aiden James Warren

Obamas foreign policy
Ending the War on Terror
Edited by Michelle Bentley and Jack Holland

First published 2014
by Routledge
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Published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2014 selection and editorial matter; Michelle Bentley and Jack Holland, contributors, their contributions

The right of Michelle Bentley and Jack Holland to be identified as editors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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ISBN: 978-0-415-66260-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-88854-5 (ebk)

Typeset in Times New Roman
by Taylor & Francis Books

JACK HOLLAND

TREVOR MCCRISKEN

ADAM QUINN

NICHOLAS KITCHEN

RICHARD JACKSON

MICHELLE BENTLEY

TY SOLOMON

MIKE AARONSON

WALI ASLAM

ANDREW FUTTER

LEE JARVIS

JACK HOLLAND AND MICHELLE BENTLEY