It is clear that President Barack Obama’s strategy in Afghanistan has not been a spectacular success, either at home or abroad. But why? The former Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, writes in his memoir, Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War, that Mr Obama, from the beginning of the war he inherited, doubted his own strategy in Afghanistan. Despite his praise of Mr Obama as intellectually rigorous, Mr Gates described the White House and its national security team as too controlling, to the extent that he actually considered resigning. In his book, released this month, Mr Gates, a Republican and the only cabinet holdover from the George W Bush’s administration, expressed contempt at the US Congress’s attitudes towards his testimonies before them. He describes most members as “uncivil” and “incompetent” and writes that US foreign policy has become “too militarised” and presidents are now more ready than ever to use force. Certainly, those suffering from drone attacks in Pakistan and Yemen – two countries that the US is not officially at war with – will agree that US power is often casually used.
At the root of this is a difference in the foreign policy vision of Mr Obama compared to George W Bush, especially when it comes to the Middle East. Both were heavily involved in the region but had completely different approaches. Unlike his predecessor, Mr Obama lacks a clear global vision. After he ordered a surge of 30,000 troops into Afghanistan in 2009, he changed his mind in 2011, thinking that it was a bad move, Mr Gates says. His decision to stay on in the country has affected the perception of the US power in the region. Recently, his brief participation in the fight to end the Libyan crisis and his reluctance to go into Syria show that Mr Gates was right. Mr Obama never articulated a clear foreign policy strategy.
That was not the case with Mr Bush. It certainly can’t be said that he lacked a vision for the region, even if it was completely devoid of consideration for the people here. Many millions of Arabs had their lives affected by Mr Bush’s policies, and most want little to do with the US now. Mr Obama has taken that message to heart, but rather than trying to reach out – apart from his early speech in Cairo – he has responded by leaving. The pivot towards Asia is little more than trying to get out of a problem that he didn’t create but has no intention of tackling.
