Barack Obama, the War on Terrorism and the US Hegemony

Abstract

The war on terrorism constituted a vision oriented in reconstructing American hegemony by consisting of elements such that combat against terrorist organizations, democracy promotion and elimination of mass destruction weapons threat after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Barack Obama severely criticized George W. Bush administration's policies concerning the war on terrorism. Thus, he has intended to strengthen the American hegemony by maintaining this vision through more mentalist policies. The present article analyzes the position of vision for war on terrorism within the Obama administration's foreign policy. In order to achieve this, the Obama administration's policies concerning combating against terrorist organizations, democracy promotion and prevention of mass destruction weapons constitute elements of the vision for war on terrorism will be investigated. Finally, the article revealed the degree of conformity of the Obama administration's foreign policy with the war on terrorism initiated by the Bush administration and analyzed effects of the Obama administration's foreign policy on American hegemony.

Keywords

• Barack Obama; American hegemony; September 11; War on terrorism; Democracy promotion; Weapons of mass destruction.