Caitlin Melaugh
POL 245
February 21, 2016
Obama
and American Exceptionalism
American Exceptionalism rests in the idea that America is
greater than other nations and holds a responsibility to the world in
supporting American values. Values such as, freedom, security, and safety. Previous
presidents have commonly embraced the idea of American Exceptionalism and used
it as a way to spread democracies in other nations. Obama however, believed
that America was not necessarily any more special than other countries. All
countries hold a sense of self pride and America is no different.
With a more realistic view in foreign policy Obama still
holds the pride for this country but does not necessarily fully believe in American
Exceptionalism. During his first term, there was a belief that America was
losing power to China. In the New Yorker article, we read for class author Ryan
Lizza states, “The relative power of the U.S. is declining, as rivals like
China rise, and that the U.S. is reviled in many parts of the world. Pursuing
our interests and spreading our ideals thus requires stealth and modesty as
well as military strength”.[1] This could be interpreted
in a different way meaning that foreign relations and policy is constantly changing
and the idea of American exceptionalism does not hold the same significance at
it once did when America was the sole world leader. Obama agrees to the extreme
world power America possesses however, not in an exceptionalism way. Other
countries holding a hatred for America hurts this country’s ability to act as
the ultimate example and shiny city on a hill.
Obama
did not promote American Exceptionalism in the classical way many previous
presidents did during his time in office. He believes America is a world power
but does not hold the right to do anything to other countries besides be looked
to as a model. This is mainly because of his view of foreign policy and the
changing climate.
[1] Ryan Lizza, “The Consequentialist:
How the Arab Spring Remade Obama’s Foreign Policy,” New Yorker, http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/05/02/the-consequentialist
Caitlin,
ReplyDeleteYour post is good, and I agree with your argument that Obama supports part of American Exceptionalism.
I too said that he had a realistic view but also added an egalitarian view to the current american exceptionalism to combine parts of all three. I do agree that he believes we are a role model so need to lead so the global community can look to us. What are your thoughts on does he think we've always been exceptional or that we are due to our history? In my post I said its due to our history and agreed with an article I read by Robert Farley.
Do you agree with the egalitarian view also that all nations are more equal due to their own countries exceptionalism? As well as that nations need collaboration to be stronger and solve issues because "we can't solve ... problems alone" (Farley 1).
Hi Caitlin!
ReplyDeleteI liked your post and how you tied in American Exceptionalism with the view of foreign countries that dislike the United States. It was interesting that you wrote American Exceptionalism has changed to be less important as time has passed; I thought it was pretty accurate and applicable for the time frame we are discussing.
While writing my post I also found that there was not one true idea of foreign policy that Obama fell into. To me, he does not follow this idea aside from the thought that the U.S. can be a model for democracy but not much else, and instead combined factors from different foreign policy schools we covered.
Hi Caitlin,
ReplyDeleteYour post was interesting to read and made me think. I agree with you that Obama is not like past Presidents and that he sees America as a role model to others. Like you said "foreign relations and policy is constantly changing and the idea of American exceptionalism does not hold the same significance at it once did when America was the sole world leader.". I haven't really thought of that before but I agree with this point completely. You make a nice point in your post and argue it in a way that it's easy to understand. Though I argued that Obama does believe in American Exceptionalism without saying partly or fully and argued about how he tried to spread democracy also, I agree with your post and the points you made.
-Elif