The Obama Doctrine and the Use of American Military Power in the Middle East

Abstract

This article examines the use of American military power in the Middle East during the presidency of Barack Obama� While some have characterized those responses as confusing, inconsistent, and/or inadequate in number, this study argues that there is a way to understand and explain Obama’s decisions, the “Obama Doctrine”� The article develops and applies the Doctrine to America’s use of force, or not, in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and elsewhere�