Abstract

BOTELHO, Teresa. American crossroads: foreign policy during interventionist fatigue. Relações Internacionais [online]. 2013, n.39, pp.91-100. ISSN 1645-9199.

This paper discusses two recent speeches by President Obama and the two different t ypes of changes they introduce, identifying the decision processes they reflect. The first speech implies a move away from the continuity of the security policy adopted by the previous administration, embodied by the Authorization to Use Military Force, announcing changes of the global strategy in the fight against terrorism, a greater judicial and political control on the use of drones and asking Congress to review the legal obstacles it created to the closure of Guantanamo. The second speech appears to invert the promises of the non-interventionist stance adopted by this administration, announcing the intention to use military force to punish the government of Syria for its repeated use of chemical weapons, without a United Nations mandate.

Keywords : Barack Obama; Syria; drones; security.

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