Assessing President Obamas National Security Strategy

Volume 116 of Terrorism: Commentary on Security Documents, Assessing President Obama's National Security Strategy extends the previous volumes on the Administration's national security policy by highlighting its specific strategies. The volume begins with an assessment of the recently published Obama National Security Strategy. It also includes other strategy documents, official statements, and budget documents to allow readers to compare and contrast this Administration's approach to its predecessor.

Volume 111 of Terrorism: Commentary on Security Documents, Discerning President Obama's National Security Strategy, makes available documents from the first fifteen months of the Obama administration that provide insights into its developing national security strategy. Included are documents that include detailed intelligence estimates and strategies as well as documents that outline important lessons regarding stability and reconstruction in Iraq. Additional documents provide valuable insight into the Obama Administration's Afghanistan and Pakistan Strategy. General Editor Douglas Lovelace, an expert in U.S. military matters, elucidates the complexities of military spending and of counter-insurgency tactics.

Volume 112 of Terrorism: Commentary on Security Documents, Discerning President Obama's National Defense Strategy, makes available documents from the first fifteen months of the Obama administration that provide insights into its developing national defense strategy. Included are documents specifically relating to the U.S. Department of Defense and the nation's armed forces. Included is the February 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review Report of the Department of Defense, one of the most significant documents providing insight into the defense component of national security. General Editor Douglas Lovelace, an expert in U.S. military matters, elucidates the complexities of military spending and of counter-insurgency tactics. Also included are reports detailing the strategy and performance of government agencies involved in the security effort, such as the Department of Homeland Security. These reports shed light on internal department assessments as well as external evaluations. Finally, strategy documents produced by the U.S. armed forces describe the national security policy being implemented by the nation's senior military leaders. Researchers will benefit from the focused and comprehensive nature of these reports.

There is more continuity than discontinuity in US national security policy under President Obama, despite widespread expectations for change and misperceptions of fundamental changes having been wrought. This project brings together US and non-US experts to assess continuities and changes in US national security policy in the Obama era.

Barack Obama's presidency is a pivotal one in American history, coming at a time of dramatic political change in the United States and amidst an astonishing array of domestic and foreign policy challenges. Not surprisingly, then, the Obama administration has been the focus of intense scrutiny by scholars, the press, and the public, and rarely has the tone of political discourse been more polarized and emotionally charged. In this book a distinguished group of scholars offers an objective and timely examination of the Obama administration; Obama's character, leadership style, and rhetoric; and his domestic, foreign, and national security policies. Engaging, lively, and highly readable, each essay offers important insight into this historic president and presidency.

This book assesses President Barack Obama's counterterrorism policy as it evolved throughout his presidency, from the expanded use of drones to the controversial decisions regarding the Syrian conflict. President Obama has achieved the dubious distinction of having been the longest continuous war president in American history, and this title explores how Obama pursued and expanded executive war power in key areas, simultaneously committing to a light footprint approach for U.S. military forces and emphasizing the use of drones, targeted killing of terrorists, and training, advising, and assisting local forces to defend themselves from militant groups such as ISIL. It also provides an in-depth analysis of the defining issue of the Obama counterterrorism strategy: Syria, and his refusal to militarily commit to defeat Bashar al-Assad and support Syria’s insurgency. The work concludes with a consideration of counterterrorism policy post-Obama.

On April 22, 2010, the Bush School of Government and Public Service and the Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College co-sponsored a colloquium in Washington, DC, on a midterm assessment of leadership and national security reform in the Obama administration. Panelists included experts from the Project on National Security Reform; the Foreign Policy Research Institute; the Hudson Institute; the Council on Foreign Relations; the Reserve Officers Association; the American Security Project; and Creative Associates International, Inc. The colloquium theme focused on the need for advancing the research and study of national security reform by engaging the invited participants to share their expertise on ways to develop a deeper awareness and understanding of the reform issues facing the U.S. Government. Three panels of national security experts discussed: "Assessing National Security Reform"; "Legislative Imperatives"; and, "Assessing National Security Reform-The Way Forward." This book includes a summary of the panelists' presentations, along with chapters written after the colloquium to further address and to assess the effectiveness and the near-term potential for Obama administration's national security reform initiatives.

Our legacy 1947/1989 national security system is unsuited for the dynamic and complex global security environment that has developed since the end of the Cold War. Over time, the National Security Council has evolved from the very limited advisory group initially imagined by President Truman to that of a vast network of interagency groups that were developed since 1989. These interagency groups view themselves as deeply involved in integrating policy development, crisis management, and staffing for the President. However, the National Security Staff (NSS) and the national security system are relics of the industrial age -- vertical stovepipes -- in an age that demands that the management of the national security system be conducted at the strategic level. What is required is a true national security strategy based on ends, ways, and means; the alignment of resources with integrated national security missions; and the assessment and accountability of management functions that should be performed by a properly resourced NSS unburdened from the urgency of the 24/7 news cycle. The President's National Security Strategy of May 2010 calls for reform in many of these areas. Section 1072 of the 2012 Defense Authorization Act calls upon the President to outline the changes and resources that are needed in both the executive branch and in Congress to implement his national security strategy. The President's response to this legislative mandate can and should be the first step in a strategic partnership for transforming our national security system, in both the executive branch and the Congress, to that of a system that can meet and anticipate the challenges and opportunities for ensuring our security and well-being.

Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: USA, grade: 1,3, University of Würzburg (Institut für Politikwissenschaft und Sozialforschung), course: Die US-Präsidentschaftswahlen und ihre Auswirkungen auf die Internationale Politik, language: English, abstract: On the 20th of January 2009 Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States of America. This seminar paper deals about the perspectives and opportunities the new president and his government have in security and counterterrorism policy. In the past years these two fields of policy have had a dominant role in the whole US policy. One can expect despite the difficult situation of US economy this status will remain. In consequence the paper's aim is to find out how the Obama government may be able to run a more successful security and counterterrorism policy than the Bush government. For this case an evaluation of the former administrations policy is necessary here. The evaluation will point out the failures of the Bush government and offer the tasks for the future policy guidelines. It will be Barack Obama ́s challenge to correct the mistakes of his precursor. In addition to this he has to face the global threats with his own security and counterterrorism policy. Of course Obama knows about his future work in these cases. In his campaign program he offered different statements and solutions for security and counterterrorism policy tasks. An introduction and analysis of the program will provide the informative basis for naming the perspectives and opportunities. The analysis will be completed by an estimate for the policy options and own suggestions on facing the two policy areas. Of course the national and the global economy will have a high priority for Barack Obama. But not only by the cases Afghanistan and Iraq security and counterterrorism policy will be a high-class topic for the new administration. The international community has high