Obama Research Articles

Examining the effect of warrior and guardian mindsets on attitudes toward use of force: an analysis of US police recruits

Abstract Recently, several highly publicized and troubling police-citizen encounters around the USA have led many to question not only police tactics but also, more broadly, police legitimacy. These events, among others, led President Obama to create a Task Force on 21st Century Policing. Part of its focus was on fostering legitimacy through community policing and a service-oriented approach to policing practices, and one of its recommendations to enhance legitimacy in the eyes of the public was to call upon the police to embrace a guardian mindset. Part of their reasoning was that officers who adopt a guardian mindset should be less likely to have an ‘us versus them’ worldview and less likely to overly use aggressive, coercive, and physical tactics (i.e. use of force) against the public. To test this assertion, attitudinal survey data are analyzed using a multi-agency sample of police recruits from the USA. Structural equation modeling results demonstrate that recruits with a warrior mindset have more favorable views toward using force. In contrast, recruits who embody a guardian mindset have less favorable views toward the use of force. Specific findings, study limitations, and implications for reform are discussed.

Foreign Policy Legacy of Prime Minister of Japan Shinzō Abe

The article analyzes the foreign policy of Shinzō Abe, one of the most notable and unusual political figures of contemporary Japan, who was the head of Japanese government twice for a total of almost nine years. It traces how his political philosophy formed under the influence of ideological views of his relatives, prime ministers N. Kishi and E. Satō, as well as his father, Shintarō Abe. It also considers Abe’s approaches to building Japan’s relations with the countries which are most important for its interests.Abe was perceived as a devoted ally of the U.S. in Washington. He established relations of confidence with presidents Obama and Trump. For this purpose, he strengthened Japanese-American military-political cooperation, took steps to support American strategy in the Asia-Pacific region. He implemented, even if without substantial results, steps to stabilize relations with China, trying to combine policy of containing Beijing with efforts to develop bilateral ties. Abe paid substantial attention to relations with India, including for the purpose of the idea, which was put forward by him and supported by the U.S., to establish quadrilateral cooperation of “democracies” in the Indo-Pacific region – the U.S., Japan, India, and Australia.His policy in the Korean direction was not successful. The relations with Pyongyang remained in deadlock, and, with Seoul, the most acute bilateral problems were not finally solved. Abe also paid great attention to policy aiming to conclude a peace treaty with Russia on the basis of a radical improvement of Japanese-Russian ties in all spheres. The reasons for his failure in these directions are discussed in this article.The article evaluates Abe’s efforts aimed at developing governmental documents and making the Diet adopt laws determining the basic directions of the foreign and military policy of the state. The author characterizes the results of the activity of S. Abe in the sphere of foreign policy and assesses its influence on the formation of the course of the Japanese government after his resignation.

Spatiotemporal evolution of hedging effects in Asia-Pacific countries amid Sino-US competition: Insights from massive event data.

Facing the pressure of Sino-US strategic competition, countries in the Asia-Pacific region often adopt hedging strategies to minimize risk and protect their interests. If implemented, these strategies could impact relationships between countries and lead to political instability. Owing to a lack of theoretical evaluation frameworks and methods, few studies have examined the implementation effects of hedging strategies adopted by Asia-Pacific countries amid Sino-US competition. This study proposes a novel four-quadrant evaluation theoretical framework, and constructs a Geopolitical Relation Index and a Comparative Relation Index based on the Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone massive event data. Since 2000, the effects of hedging strategies in 19 Asia-Pacific countries against China and the US have been dynamically quantified. The research reveals that Asia-Pacific countries' dynamic performances over 24 years can be categorized into three groups: significantly closer to China, significantly closer to the US, and swinging. Since implementing the Belt and Road Initiative, countries close to China have deepened their ties, while those aligned with the US have strengthened their ties. Asia-Pacific countries have demonstrated similar characteristics from Obama's presidency to Biden's presidency. The results contribute to the dynamic assessment and ongoing monitoring of the execution effects of Asia-Pacific countries' diplomatic strategies towards China and the US, offering valuable insights for timely refinement of their foreign policies.

Do the Gödel Vignettes Involve a New Descriptivist Meaning? A Critical Discussion of Devitt and Porot's Elicited Production Test on Proper Names.

Proper names-expressions such as "Barack Obama" or "New York"-play a crucial role in the philosophical debate on reference, that is, the relation that allows words to stand for entities of the world. In an elicited production test, Devitt and Porot prompt participants to use proper names to compare the Descriptivist Theory and the Causal-Historical Theory on proper names' reference. According to the Descriptivist Theory, names refer to the entity that fulfills the description that speakers associate with them. In contrast, the Causal-Historical Theory holds that names refer to the entity at the origin of the causal-historical chain of uses, regardless of any description. Devitt and Porot consider a criticism of their work, which they call "New-Meaning objection": upon reading the vignette, the participant gains access to some facts unknown to the people within the fictional scenario. As a consequence, the descriptivist participant may undertake the elicited production test by relying upon a new meaning that is in force within a linguistic community "in the know." In that case, the Descriptivist Theory predicts the same name usage as the Causal-Historical Theory. While Devitt and Porot address the objection also with a follow-up experiment, they consider the criticism theoretically flawed, arguing that names do not change meaning any time speakers acquire new information about the world. In this article, I argue that, contrary to Devitt and Porot's claim, their vignette inclines the descriptivist participant to assume that the name has acquired a new meaning.

Indo-Pacific Strategy Under a Second Donald Trump Presidency in the United States: Current Trajectory and Future Path

The Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) has been a key US foreign policy goal during the 2010s. The strategy has evolved from a traditional 'Island Chain Strategy' to a more comprehensive approach that is grounded in security and values. Given Trump's explicitly hostile economic and security approach against China, the IPS has become more important than ever. This article examines the concept and development of the IPS under President Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden, and its probable evolution under Trump 2.0. It examines what Indo-Pacific nations expect from this policy and its implications under Trump. The IPS is a strategic asset for the US and its regional allies, including Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Australia. The results suggest that the IPS's mission has always been to build strong alliances based on democratic ideals, guarantee freedom of passage, and discourage regional dangers like Chinese and North Korean aggression (Grossman, 2024). The analysis concludes, based on political occurrences and pertinent data, that a second Trump administration may not change the IPS considerably. Trump may escalate his economic policies on China. The study concludes with policy recommendations to improve the IPS under Trump 2.0, including improved economic engagement with South and Southeast Asia, sustaining defense partnerships with Japan and South Korea, and addressing Pacific Island nations' environmental and developmental needs.

American Exceptionalism and Exemptionalism in Presidential Rhetoric: George W. Bush and Barack Obama on Guantanámo Bay

American Exceptionalism and Exemptionalism in Presidential Rhetoric: George W. Bush and Barack Obama on Guantanámo Bay

Climate Change and Military Planning in the United States

The article examines changes in U.S. military planning approaches in the context of climate threats, focusing on the impact of climate change on national and international security. The author analyzes the evolution of the perception of climate phenomena as a risk, starting with the policies of the Barack Obama administration and including the current measures of the Joe Biden administration. The paper notes that climate change is seen not only as a direct threat to military installations, but also as a factor that can exacerbate social and political tensions, cause migration crises and regional conflicts. One of the key points is the integration of climate risks into the strategic planning of the U.S. Department of Defense, which is reflected in a number of directives and strategies, such as the Climate Adaptation Plan and the Climate Risk Analysis. Particular attention is given to the development of the DCAT geospatial tool that assesses the vulnerability of military installations to climate change. The article also examines legislative initiatives in the U.S. Congress to support DOD's efforts to mitigate climate change and increase the resilience of military infrastructure. Examples of specific measures aimed at reducing green-house gas emissions, developing clean energy, and improving energy efficiency are provided. Special attention is paid to the U.S. Arctic Strategy, which recognizes climate change as a key driver affecting the strategic environment in the region. Strategic documents repeatedly emphasize the importance of interagency cooperation and strategic planning in a changing climate to minimize risks to U.S. military readiness and national interests.

Dilemmas of U.S. Decarbonization

This article investigates controversial relations between energy security and energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables that are observed in petroleum producing countries, since energy transition jeopardizes the long-term future of the oil and gas sector because it entails a gradual reduction in hydrocarbon production. This problem represents a serious challenge for all petroleum-producing countries, but this challenge is particularly serious in the United States, which recovered its former status of energy superpower due to the shale revolution. Simultaneously, it intends to become a global leader of energy transition under the presidency of Joe Biden. In general, the policy of oil companies’ decarbonization is influenced by a number of factors: government climate policy, activities of international organizations, attitudes of financial institutions, shareholders, investors, NGOs and consumers. While European oil companies feel quite a stable and consistent pressure from all these factors that force them to pursue a fairly radical decarbonization policy, the situation in the US is not that straightforward. On the one hand, government climate policy has recently sharply fluctuated, from Barak Obama to Donald Trump to Joe Biden, sending controversial messages to oil corporations. While currently decarbonization policy is a priority of Joe Biden’s administration, if Donald Trump wins the 2024 elections, the future of energy transition in the US might be challenged because he has always strongly focused on strengthening US energy security. On the other hand, the leading US oil companies through their lobbying efforts exert a significant influence on the government climate policy, seeking to ensure a long-term future of hydrocarbons and trying to find a balance between energy security and energy transition that would benefit them. They realize that it would be feasible for them to become leaders of the energy transition by adapting it to their strategic needs.

Comparison of George W. Bush & Barrack Obama Regimes Regarding Pakistan-US Strategic Relations (2001-2017)

The main theme of this study is to dig out different aspects for prolonged peace and stability with different administrations of USA towards Pakistan. Since the inception of Pakistan; she has been facing many challenges in shape of India, a hostile neighbor of Pakistan. She has to balance out her capabilities in military, strategic and economic grounds to survive at global and regional arena. Pakistan in dire need to find a global partner who can rescue her in difficult situation but America has betrayed her ambitions on multiple occasions. She has cut down economic and military aid in different eras; they have opposed Pakistan’s nuclear experiments on number of occasions which resulted in imposing Pressler amendment. Pakistan and US relations has seen many ups and downs since 1947. The brutal attack on America by Al-Qaeda brought both countries to make alliance to fight global war against terrorism. President Bush during his administration clearly mentioned that “are you with us or terrorists”. President Musharraf without hesitation joined American war against terrorism. She has supported Bush administration in every aspect to dismantle Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan. President Bush was strong believer to use hard power to attain his foreign policy goals and objectives. The sovereignty of Pakistan was badly affected during his administration. When President Barrack Obama became the President of USA he altered the foreign policy of US by applying smart power to achieve his foreign policy goals and objective. During his administration he provided aid both economic and military. The drone attacks were doubled as compared to President Bush administration. He conducted “Operation Neptune Spear” to kill Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad, city of Pakistan. The National Security Strategies of both presidents were different while tackling Pakistan. In reply Pakistan faced many challenges in shape of a) economic b) military c) civilian d) infrastructure where she lost 80,000 precious human lives. Terrorism spread to all parts of Pakistan during both Bush and Obama administrations. Realist School of thought has been applied to the theme of the study while data has been evaluated through qualitative paradigm. Hypothesis has been proved along with key finding and recommendations.

Can Translation Alter Political Persona? The Case of the Rhetorical Repertoire of Obama and Trump Translated From English to Indonesian

As rhetoric in political speeches represents a particular persona that political figures strive to cultivate, that rhetoric should project the same image as the original when translated. Therefore, this study aims to explore the shifts in rhetorical strategy categories as seen in the translation of the political speeches of former U.S. Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump from English to Indonesian, how they affect message correctness, and how they may change the orator's political character. In multiple case studies covering the acceptance and inauguration speeches of both Obama and Trump, some rhetoric maintains their original identities. Moreover, there are five different shifts found in the rhetoric of their speeches: 1.) a shift from rhetoric to non-rhetoric; 2.) a shift from rhetoric to lost or deleted rhetoric; 3.) a shift from a particular type of rhetoric strategy to another; 4.) lessening rhetorical power or degree of the same strategy; and 5.) a shift of propositional message. Furthermore, the study reveals that retaining rhetorical categories in the translation results in higher accuracy, whereas any shift has the opposite effect, as it changes the original rhetorical message. As a result, this raises the possibility that a particularly rhetorical-style political identity may change if a large number of alterations occur.

Who, republican or democrat CEOs, laughs last? Political cycles in the market for corporate directors

This paper examines the relationship between CEOs' political preferences and their post-retirement directorship opportunities, proposing that political donations may serve as signals of political influence or connections that impact career prospects in the market for corporate directors. Using data on political contributions from 1998 to 2016, we explore whether CEOs' political affiliations create a cyclical pattern in the professional labor market, favoring those aligned with the ruling party. Our analysis reveals that Republican partisan CEOs are more successful in securing directorships under Republican regimes (George Walker Bush, 2003∼2008), while the reverse holds under Democratic regimes (Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. 2009∼2014). These results remain robust after addressing potential endogeneity using presidential election outcomes as an instrumental variable.

An Analysis of Grammatical Cohesian on Barack Obama Speech: Discourse Analysis

This qualitative research study explores the types of grammatical cohesiveness frequently used in utterances, focusing on the relationship between theory and research as proposed by Halliday and Hasan (1976). The research data is derived from former President Barack Obama's farewell speech, available on The Obama White House YouTube channel since January 11, 2017. The primary objective is to examine the presence and usage of ellipsis, reference, conjunction, and substitution in Obama's speech. Data collection employed an observational approach, with researchers watching and listening to the speech while taking notes. The analysis process involved understanding the context and categorizing the data based on Halliday and Hasan's theoretical framework, with findings presented using descriptive statistics. The study identified significant occurrences of grammatical cohesiveness, including 15 references, 10 substitutions, 4 conjunctions, and 9 ellipses in Obama's speech. These cohesive elements are instrumental in ensuring effective communication and message integration, enabling the audience to follow the speech seamlessly. By investigating grammatical cohesiveness in Obama's farewell address, this research contributes to the understanding of how theory and research interact within language use and highlights the importance of cohesive linguistic elements in conveying messages effectively.

Democratic interventionists versus pragmatic realists: Employing the advocacy coalition framework to explain Obama's shift in multilateralism with European allies

AbstractThis research employs the advocacy coalition framework (ACF) to examine two coalitions of U.S. foreign policy during the early part of Barack Obama's presidency when U.S. policy shifted from leading multilateral security operations with European allies to catalyzing others to lead. It identifies the primary members of two coalitions, the Democratic Interventionists and the Pragmatic Realists, who held differing beliefs about U.S. foreign policy. I investigate the beliefs of the members of these coalitions regarding the U.S. role in multilateral security operations, the policy preferences that emerge from those beliefs, the many strategies employed to ensure the adoption of their policy preferences, and the impact of the implemented policy. The ACF facilitates consideration of the strategy, means, and settings that the Pragmatic Realist coalition used to win the policy debate in the Obama administration. This article further provides a greater understanding of the circumstances that support U.S. multilateralism.Related ArticlesDolan, Chris J. 2008. “The Shape of Elite Opinion on U.S. Foreign Policy, 1992 to 2004.” Politics & Policy 36(4): 542–85. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2007.00121.x/abstract.Haar, Roberta N., and Lutz F. Krebs. 2021. “The Failure of Foreign Policy Entrepreneurs in the Trump Administration.” Politics & Policy 49(2): 446–73. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12399.Lasher, Kevin J., and Christine Sixta Rinehart. 2016. “The Shadowboxer: The Obama Administration and Foreign Policy Grand Strategy.” Politics & Policy 44(5): 850–88. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12175.

The Donald Trump Factor and US-Ukrainian Relations (2017-2020): From Strategic Friendship to Cold Partnership

This article analyses the dynamics of relations between Ukraine and the United States under the presidency of Donald Trump, covering the approaches of the parties to bilateral cooperation, key events and issues. It describes in detail the main features of Washington’s policy towards Ukraine during this period, the factors that shaped it and the reasons for any contradictions involved. It is noted that the course of the Trump administration’s foreign policy towards Ukraine has been shaped by three factors: strong pressure from Congress, contradictions between the president and his foreign policy team, and public suspicions of collusion between Trump’s entourage and the Kremlin in the 2016 US presidential election, which was accompanied by a bitter domestic political struggle. With no room for manoeuvre in such circumstances, the Trump administration chose the safest course of action – to continue the policy of the Obama administration with certain tactical changes designed to demonstrate a more decisive stance than its predecessor. These involved a significant increase in economic and military assistance to Ukraine, including the provision of lethal weapons and the appointment of Kurt Volker as US Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations. Based on extensive empirical evidence, this paper also highlights the progress made and achievements with regard to cooperation in four areas that made up the Ukrainian-US relations agenda during the period covered: political dialogue, security, energy projects and the fight against corruption. The author shows that the contradictory nature of US policy towards Ukraine under Trump comprised a combination of a significant increase in military assistance and a decrease in the intensity of high-level political contacts.

Bridging the Atlantic: The case of EU–US parliamentary diplomacy

With the rise of non-executive forms of diplomacy, political scientists have increasingly focused on the role of parliaments as diplomatic actors. This article aims to deepen the study of European parliamentary diplomacy through an extensive case study of transatlantic parliamentary diplomacy (TPD) between the European Parliament and the US Congress during the Obama and Trump administrations (2009–21). It is hypothesised that the decrease in EU–US political alignment under the Trump administration resulted in a corresponding decrease in both the salience and positivity of TPD. Counter-intuitively, the data shows that the decrease in political alignment correlated with a higher quantity of TPD. However, a content analysis of the joint reports of the Transatlantic Legislators’ Dialogue indicates that the attitude of this TPD is found to have become increasingly negative.

Role of low-impact-factor journals in conservation implementation.

Academic review, promotion, and tenure processes place a premium on frequent publication in high-impact factor (IF) journals. However, conservation often relies on species-specific information that is unlikely to have the broad appeal needed for high-IF journals. Instead, this information is often distributed in low-IF, taxa- and region-specific journals. This suggests a potential mismatch between the incentives for academic researchers and the scientific needs of conservation implementation. To explore this mismatch, we looked at federal implementation of the United States Endangered Species Act (ESA), which requires the use of the "best available science" to list a species as endangered or threatened and thus receive powerful legal protections. In assessing the relationship between academic sources of this "best available science" and ESA implementation, we looked at the 13,292 sources (e.g., academic journals, books, reports, regulations, personal communications, etc.) cited by the second Obama administration (2012-2016) across all ESA listings. We compared the IFs of all 4836 journals that published peer-reviewed papers cited in these listings against their citation frequency in ESA listings to determine whether a journal's IF varied in proportion with its contribution to federal conservation. Most of the peer-reviewed academic articles referenced in ESA listings came from low-IF or no-IF journals that tended to focus on specific taxa or regions. Although we support continued attention to cutting-edge, multidisciplinary science for its ability to chart new pathways and paradigms, our findings stress the need to value and fund the taxa- and region-specific science that underpins actionable conservation laws.

From a ‘Peaceful and Prosperous China’ to ‘the China Virus’: Examining the Framing of China Through American Political Rhetoric

Abstract The period comprising the past thirty-two years since the collapse of the Soviet Union has seen a range of approaches taken by the United States in handling its relationship with China. Launched in November 2011, the ‘Pivot to Asia’ policy approach entailed new levels of engagement with ‘a peaceful and prosperous China’, but on the most challenging issues this approach also brought increasing confrontation. The West (in this case the United States) has a history of utilising Orientalist-style, ‘us vs them’ dichotomies to manipulate unequal relations of power with the East (known as the ‘Orient’) throughout history (originally with middle-eastern nations). By using tenets from Edward Said’s Orientalism and critical discourse analysis adapted from Normal Fairclough’s 3-dimensional model, this article seeks to establish whether the foreign policy rhetoric of the United States has shifted to frame China through an Orientalist worldview since the Obama Administration’s “Pivot to Asia” strategy in late 2011. The article analyses 52 speeches from the Obama and Trump Administrations, finding evidence of pro-orientalist themes and language being adopted for both. Whilst utilised to a lower degree, these ‘us vs them’ dichotomies do exist under President Obama’s more accommodating and calmer linguistic-style, being intertwined with language designed to project an image of welcoming cooperation (albeit in a condescending, back-handed way). The use of orientalist themes is more prominently provable under President Trump, with almost all major speeches pertaining to China containing high usage of orientalist tropes in a more openly xenophobic, racist fashion.

Shaping the Future of Nuclear Deterrence: Adapting to New Challenges and Opportunities

Extended nuclear deterrence provided by nuclear weapons is indispensable for maintaining stability among great powers. Despite ongoing efforts to scale back nuclear weapon roles and engage in multilateral initiatives, achieving complete global nuclear disarmament in the foreseeable future remains improbable. The United States relies on a robust nuclear deterrent to ensure national security and firmly reassure its allies and partners of this strong commitment to security. Former President Obama underscored the aspiration for a world free of nuclear weapons; nonetheless, until such a goal is feasible, the U.S. maintains its obligation to uphold a formidable and responsive nuclear deterrent. This paper prompts contemplation on deterrence’s pivotal role in averting conflicts among major powers and safeguarding strategic stability. It underscores the dual purpose of strategic deterrence: preventing aggression while promoting global nuclear stability. Looking ahead, it is imperative to intensify engagement with other nuclear-armed states and vigorously pursue multilateral efforts to constrain, diminish, and ultimately eradicate nuclear weapons worldwide. Nevertheless, pragmatic realities necessitate the ongoing upkeep of a potent deterrent capability to thwart potential threats and advance toward a future characterized by enduring global peace and security.

Reasons and Consequences for The Obama Administration's policy of Military Withdrawal in Iraq (2009-2017)

Reasons and Consequences for The Obama Administration's policy of Military Withdrawal in Iraq (2009-2017)

Loving our leaders: A triangular theory of love for political figures

AbstractMany people support and stand by political candidates in the same way that a person might support a significant other. In two studies, we preliminarily explored the utility of a triangular theory of love proposed for political figures. In the first study, data from 87 university students were used to obtain results relating to levels of intimacy, passion, commitment, and satisfaction for a participant‐chosen political figure. We hypothesized that intimacy, passion, and commitment would predict higher levels of satisfaction with political figures. Correlational analyses revealed significant relationships between all three variables and satisfaction. In stepwise multiple regressions, intimacy and passion retained significant relationships with satisfaction. In the second study, 299 university students reported levels of intimacy, passion, commitment, and satisfaction for three political figures: Joe Biden, Donald Trump, and Barack Obama. All three variables were significantly correlated with satisfaction for each candidate. Stepwise multiple regression analyses revealed that intimacy and commitment, but not passion, predicted satisfaction for Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Intimacy, passion, and commitment significantly predicted satisfaction for Barack Obama. Voters may experience a kind of love for political figures, and understanding this relationship may have implications for helping voters make informed decisions during elections.