Barack Obama’s final State of the Union marked the beginning of the end of his time in the White House and stands as an epitaph for the dream of a peace presidency.
Obama swept into office on a pledge to end the Iraq war and, less heralded, achieve some semblance of success in the Afghanistan one. He vaulted into serious contention for the Democratic nomination by picking a first-principles fight with Hillary Clinton about ending not only the Iraq war but “the mindset that got us into war in the first place”.
The expectations for Obama from a war-weary west were so high he received a Nobel peace prize within months. Never a pacifist, and always one to embrace complexity, he accepted the award with a speech defending the use of military force.As a wartime president, he has resembled his hated predecessor George W Bush, in execution if not design. He will leave office as Bush did: passing on to his successor two wars – one the longest in American history, the other a reboot of the conflict he promised to end. Unlike in previous speeches, Obama did not boast in the State of the Union of ending either.
While Obama’s claim to a peace presidency may have failed – “the tide of war is receding” is a now-forgotten 2012 re-election theme – the men and women looking to succeed him do not seem to want the mantle.
Bernie Sanders, the most leftwing candidate, emphasizes his economic message. Clinton, who was perhaps the most hawkish member of Obama’s cabinet, haspledged to escalate Obama’s war in Iraq and Syria. Ted Cruz, the leading Republican most inclined to question familiar conservative militarism, still calls for the “carpet-bombing” of Isis.
“If the pronouncements of presidential candidates are any indication, with the exceptions of Rand Paul and Bernie Sanders, Obama’s successor will likely expand and deepen US military commitments and operations around the world,” said Micah Zenko of the Council on Foreign Relations.
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