The world’s only superpower should adopt a policy of “strategic patience” in the face of new challenges such as the Ukraine crisis and Middle East instability, President Barack Obama said, with diplomacy and alliances playing just as important a role as military power.
Attempting to define his cautious approach to foreign policy in a new national security strategy document released on Friday, Mr Obama made the case that the US remains the dominant global power but also needs to recognise limitations on its ability to influence complex events and crises around the world.
The document will probably animate the fierce debate between those who believe Mr Obama is re-establishing US leadership in a world with new centres of power and those who say the administration is complacent in the face of crises in Europe and the Middle East.