Post 911 Us Foreign Policy: A Comparative Study of Presidents George W. Bush Jr. and Barack Obama

Abstract

The United States has been known for its isolationist, neutrality and noninterventionist tendencies since independence as a result of the caution sounded by its founding fathers, such as George Washington, that future foreign policy makers should ensure they do not involve the state in any permanently entangling alliances. Things, however, changed after World War II when the US saw the need to exert its influence on the world stage to advance its interest by spreading their values through a multilateral system. The US has been accorded the founder of the current multilateral system after leading the creation of the United Nations and its agencies through funding and provision of leadership since 1945. The expectation is that being the founders of the present multilateral system, the US, as a leader, will always stick to a multilateral approach to world problems. This has often not been the case as a lot of the presidents have either resorted to unilateralism or multilateralism or both in tackling world problems. The September 11 attack on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon presents an era where America’s power has been tested by terrorists and what everyone looks out for is how her leaders will approach the issue. This research studies how the first two presidents, George Bush Jr. and Barack Obama, who came after the September 11 attack, approached the challenge in the context of going it alone or involving alliances. What the researcher realised is that generally, analysts are divided, up to date, as to which of the two leaders was unilaterally or multilaterally oriented. Basing on related literature about the issues and inferring from face-to-face interviews, the researcher discovered that the policies and approaches of these leaders were determined by factors such as level of relationship between the president and Congress, War on Terror, personal attributes of the leaders, national interest among others. These determinants to a large extent influenced how Bush Jr. and Barack Obama accepted or shunned unilateralism or multilateralism in executing their policies. After careful analysis, the study revealed that President Barack Obama firmly embraced multilateral approach to solving world problems while Bush Jr. preferred unilateralism on the average. It is recommended that, in spite of achieving the national interest, the US might show considerable commitment to multilateral agreements as an example of leadership for others to emulate. It is also recommended that Congress and the Executive be encouraged to maintain bipartisanship to promote programmes and policies of international interest. Finally, the US might consider increasing aid to terror prone regions since terrorism, in part, emanates from economic deprivation.