Essay on George W. Bush/Barack Obama - 1746 Words

Tena Vaughn Eng. 11103.09 Comp 1 November 12, 2010 Comparison/Contrast Essay George W. Bush / Barack Obama Many would argue that former president George W. Bush and current president Barack Obama are very different. While this is true some would be surprised at the similarities between these presidents. The differences between the two presidents go beyond style, of course. However, if one looked at the major economic and defense policies the differences, when any, are fairly minor. George W. Bush was born on July 6, 1946, in New Haven, Connecticut. Bush was the oldest of six children of George Bush, who served as the forty-first president of the United States (1989-93), and†¦show more content†¦A less Manichean approach would, therefore, allow Washington to exploit this overlap in interests. Consequently, Obama has drawn a much narrower definition of the threat. He has declared was on al-Qaeda and related movements. Obama’s perspective is based on the consensus of the foreign policy establishment. In December 2006 this consensus was codified in a athorative document, â€Å"The Iraq Study Group Report.† The report called for five new major policies: withdrawal from Iraq; renewed focus on Afghanistan; diplomatic engagement of Iran and Syria, and a revitalized Arab-Israeli Peace Process. Although the report is all but forgotten today, it is of great historical interest, because it captured the bipartisan critique of the Bush foreign policy, which served, in effect, as the operational playbook of the Obama administration when it first took office. The wide and narrow definitions of the strategic threat are reflections of two irreconcilable sets of beliefs about the nature of the international system. The wide definition assumes that the vital interests of the United States are threatened today by the convergence of a series of factors: hostile rogue states, nuclear proliferation, terrorist networks with global reach, indifferent allies, unhelpful international institutions, and competition from Russia and China, among others. Taken individually, each of these problems isShow MoreRelatedPresidential Powers: A Comparsion of Predencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama1042 Words   |  5 Pagesdefined in numerous ways. Political scientists Richard Neustadt and William Howell give different views on what is presidential power. These polarized views of presidential powers can be used to compare and contrast the presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Richard Neustadt stated in his book Presidential Power that â€Å"Presidential power is the power to persuade.†(Neustadt, pg.11) Persuasion and bargaining are techniques that presidents can use to influence policy. 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