Barack Obama: Liberal Icon or Realist Dude in Town

Brent Lamothe
Mar 29, 2016
2 min read

Obama is a cool dude. Articulate, charismatic, and respected around the world for his towering intellect. But is Obama the liberal icon that some claim? Or is he, in fact, a super realist with some liberal powers?

The case for liberalism

Every now and then, Barack Obama will get up in front of a crowd and talk about the things that matter the most to people around the world. Human rights, economic prosperity for all, and the treatment of women as being equal to men just to name a few. If that sounds like something a liberal would call for, you are definitely right. Obama has repeatedly justified international actions on the basis that they are in the best interests of worlds population. He chased after Joseph Koney (remember him?), took out top Al-Qaeida members (including Bin Laden), and helped topple the Qadaffi regime in Libya all on the grounds that it was in the interests of human rights. So far, Obama is looking SUPER liberal…

The case for realism

As leader of the free-world, Obama has some pretty crazy powers. In a lot of ways, he flexes his power when he needs to and shows, pretty often, that he might be an undercover realist. Consider his bromance with Justin Trudeau. No doubt the two like one another, but is Obama charming Trudeau (and vice versa) because they know they need one another to better serve their own country’s interest? And what about Obama taking unilateral action to lay the smack down in foreign countries? Did Obama not believe that he could get away with it because there wasn’t any international organization to call him out for it? Lastly, does he not act as though he knows who the big boss of the international system is? Just this past week, Obama told the King of Jordan that if he had anything to say, he could say it to his face! Wooooo. Obama throwing fire! Something tells me that if the United States was a little bit smaller (and a whole lot less powerful) Obama wouldn’t have done anything CLOSE to this. His recognition of his country’s status is real, and realist!

So, is Obama a realist, or a liberal? Leave your comments below!