First published 2012
Stephen Carter examines how Barack Obama evolved from a candidate promising peace into a wartime leader. Carter applies traditional just war theory to evaluate Obama's military decisions during his first two years as president. The analysis covers Obama's handling of conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan while America simultaneously wages a broader war on terrorism. Carter responds directly to Obama's Nobel Prize speech, using Western philosophical frameworks to assess the president's words and actions regarding military intervention. The book reveals how some of Obama's authorized tactics exceed those employed by George W. Bush. Carter explores Obama's stated support for using force to protect populations from oppressive governments, a principle the president had not yet implemented. The author argues that preserving peace often demands warfare and examines how ongoing conflicts influence Obama's worldview on America's military role globally.
Genres: history, biography-memoir, 21st-century, current-affairs, academic, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Setting: Afghanistan, Iraq
Period: First Two Years
364 pages · Paperback · ReadHowYouWant