Obama: Peacemaker or Vigilante?
Mukul Devichand asks what, when set against the expectations of his hopeful supporters in 2008, President Obama has actually achieved on the world stage.
When Barack Obama stood before a 200,000-strong crowd in Berlin in 2008 his declaration that "now is the time to build new bridges across the globe" was met with jubilation by a crowd which believed the future American president would pursue a gentler foreign policy, completely unlike that of George W Bush. This liberal enthusiasm extended to the Nobel Committee, which awarded Obama its Peace Prize in his first year of office. The man himself accepted the Prize, and the warm feelings, but did he ever intend to pursue the sort of foreign policy which his well-wishers in Europe and on the American left expected of him? And what - when set against their expectations, or indeed his own promises - has President Obama actually achieved on the world stage?
Interviewees include:
Bruce Riedel, former adviser on foreign policy to Barack Obama
Ann Marie Slaughter, former Director of Policy Planning for the U.S. State Department under Barack Obama
Daniel Drezner, Professor of International Politics at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University
James Fallows, The Atlantic magazine
Gregory Johnsen, Near East Studies Scholar, Princeton University
Jameel Jaffer, lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union
Presenter: Mukul Devichand
Producer: Richard Knight.
Last on
More episodes
Previous
War Gaming Iran
Could a hot war with Iran be about to start? Analysis probes the West's options.
America: The Right Way
Justin Webb explores what the primaries tell us about the state of the right in the US.
Tea Party Politics
Gary Younge assesses the strength and influence of the Tea Party movement in the US.
Latinos USA
Claire Bolderson asks if Latinos are the key to a reborn USA.
Broadcasts
- Mon 1 Oct 2012 20:30成人快手 Radio 4
- Sun 7 Oct 2012 21:30成人快手 Radio 4
Featured in...
The Best of Analysis: Global Politics
A collection of programmes exploring political issues from around the world.
Radio 4 on the 2012 US Presidential Election
A collection of Radio 4 programmes on the 2012 American Presidential Election.
America today—Letter from America by Alistair Cooke
The best of Radio 4 programmes providing in-depth coverage and analysis on the USA today.
Podcast
-
Analysis
Programme examining the ideas and forces which shape public policy in Britain and abroad.