Obama's America
Carl Pedersen
Abstract
The year 2008 will be remembered as the moment when the United States elected its first African American president. This book seeks to place the extraordinary rise of Barack Obama within the larger context of a possible historic political realignment in the U.S. and of limits to U.S. power in the world. For 2008 also offered a number of history lessons that will surely inform studies of the election and its aftermath. This book is an attempt to engage with these history lessons. It examines the demographic changes that will likely change the nature of American national identity. It also assess ... More
The year 2008 will be remembered as the moment when the United States elected its first African American president. This book seeks to place the extraordinary rise of Barack Obama within the larger context of a possible historic political realignment in the U.S. and of limits to U.S. power in the world. For 2008 also offered a number of history lessons that will surely inform studies of the election and its aftermath. This book is an attempt to engage with these history lessons. It examines the demographic changes that will likely change the nature of American national identity. It also assesses the extent to which the grassroots organisations that were crucial in winning the election for Obama may influence the way he governs the nation. Moreover, the book maps the contours of an Obama Doctrine in foreign policy by looking at how his identity has shaped his views on the role of the U.S. in the world and how he, in turn, has been influenced by his foreign policy advisers. It examines the challenges Obama faces in confronting a post-American world in which the U.S. is no longer the sole superpower. Will Obama be a transformative president?
Keywords:
African American president,
Barack Obama,
political realignment,
United States,
election,
demographic changes,
national identity,
grassroots organisations,
Obama Doctrine,
foreign policy
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2009 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780748638949 |
| Published to Edinburgh Scholarship Online: September 2012 |
DOI:10.3366/edinburgh/9780748638949.001.0001 |
