Engineering Against Evil: The Moral Pragmatism of the Obama Foreign Policy Doctrine

Abstract

This paper maintains that despite perceptions that the Obama doctrine in foreign policy is a break from the past it is in fact consistent with long-term national trends in the American foreign policy style. This style is one of moral pragmatism, which suggests that morality is the basis for much of America's foreign policy direction and that this morality is underscored by an emphasis in the American national style on pragmatic problem solving of foreign policy problems. Consequently, the paper concludes that the Obama Doctrine is one minor variation on a broad and consistent theme in the US foreign policy process.