Barack Obama: From an End to Terror to Drone Wars and ISIS

Authors

Gabriel Rubin, Montclair State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

Spring 3-22-2020

Journal / Book Title

Presidential Rhetoric on Terrorism under Bush, Obama and Trump

Abstract

Barack Obama attempted to recalibrate presidential rhetoric on the terror threat. He made far fewer speeches about terrorism than George W. Bush did. Yet, despite some efforts to the contrary, he continued many of Bush’s policies—and in the case of targeted assassinations using drones (unmanned aerial vehicles), went further than Bush. The analysis of Obama’s rhetoric on terrorism shows a president who both wants to distance himself from his predecessor and one who wants to be seen as tough on terrorism. In the final analysis, Obama’s rhetoric and policies hewed rather closely to George W. Bush’s. This chapter raises questions about how the terror threat can be recalibrated given Obama’s failure to properly evaluate the threat from ISIS. It also shows that presidents do not need to speak much about an issue when policies to deal with it have already been passed.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30167-5_3

Book Publisher

Palgrave Pivot, Cham

Journal ISSN / Book ISBN

978-3-030-30167-5

MSU Digital Commons Citation

Rubin, Gabriel, "Barack Obama: From an End to Terror to Drone Wars and ISIS" (2020). Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 141.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/justice-studies-facpubs/141

Published Citation

Rubin, Gabriel. "Barack Obama: From an End to Terror to Drone Wars and ISIS." In Presidential Rhetoric on Terrorism under Bush, Obama and Trump, pp. 81-103. Palgrave Pivot, Cham, 2020.