Obama abandons ‘leading from behind’ with new security strategy

With former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton set to run for the White House in 2016 as the successor to Barack Obama’s legacy, the administration seems to be aware that it has to bequeath her one that is worth defending.

The unceasingly mocked doctrine of “leading from behind,” a principle forged during the 2011 intervention in the Libyan civil war that holds that the United States should allow regional allies to take responsibility for the security situations in their neighborhoods, has been abandoned. According to a new security policy memo the White House released on Friday, the administration plans to take a more proactive approach to addressing the globe’s security challenges.

Observers will note that the White House is seeking to communicate America’s leadership role in global affairs. That headline is hard to miss, considering the number of times the White House used the word and highlighted relating doctrinal shifts in bold.

“We will lead with purpose”; “We will lead with strength”; “We will lead by example”; “We will lead with capable partners”; “We will lead with all the instruments of U.S. power”; “We will lead with a long-term perspective.”

I wonder what they’re getting at.

Of course, the White House’s national security policy memo also doesn’t miss an opportunity to make a political point. The administration couldn’t pass up the chance to blame Congress in part for a suboptimal international security situation.

Many achievements of recent years were made possible by Democrats and Republicans; Federal, state and local governments; and the public and private sectors working together. But, we face continued challenges, including political dysfunction in Washington that undermines national unity, stifles bipartisan cooperation, and ultimately erodes the perception and strength of our leadership abroad. American leadership is always most powerful when we are able to forge common ground at home around key national priorities.

According to The New York Times, this new strategy memo is not so much a departure from the doctrine of “leading from behind” as it is a defense of it. What’s more, the document opens by defining America’s security threats as climate change, global energy prices, failing states, and international poverty. This must be music to the ears of revanchist elements in the Kremlin eagerly reassembling the Soviet sphere of influence through force of arms.

To the extent that the Islamic Republic of Iran is mentioned, it is only within the context of the ongoing negotiations over the state’s nuclear program and the administration’s goal of reaching a nuclear accord. There is no mention of Iran’s troubling quest for regional hegemony and the new front it recently opened up in pursuit of that goal in Yemen.

Even NBC News has noted that the White House has had to address its strategy policy because it is a self-evident disaster. “As a whole, the administration’s strategy looks more like crisis management than an actual strategy,” an NBC News report read. “A lot of that has to do with the Iraq war, of course. This administration and its advisers are incredibly gun-shy about getting dragged into quagmires.” NBC also notes that Obama’s handling of foreign affairs polls in the high 30s, suggesting a majority of the public is dissatisfied with the president’s stewardship of America’s foreign affairs.

If you were hoping for a serious strategic approach to geopolitical security threats from this White House, you were disappointed on Friday. Perhaps Hillary Clinton will have the room to emphasize where she will depart from this White House on the conduct of foreign affairs after all.