by Kenneth T. Walsh

April 15, 2011

The president's Libya policy provides insight into his leadership style

President Obama's response to the violent turmoil in Libya illustrates in vivid detail his approach to leadership and crisis management. Above all, he has shown that, while he is committed to humanitarian missions abroad, he has a strict sense of the limits of American military power. In his speech to the nation last week, Obama declared that, "To brush aside America's responsibility as a leader and, more profoundly, our responsibilities to our fellow human beings under such circumstances would have been a betrayal of who we are." But he added that "the burden of action should not be America's alone." Obama made clear that he was giving NATO command of the no-fly zone designed to thwart Libyan ruler Muammar Qadhafi's air defenses. He also underscored that NATO was assuming responsibility for protecting the civilian population of Libya, which has been one of Obama's major objectives from the start of the intervention.

And the president emphasized that he is well aware of the dangers of overreaching. "I think it's important not to take this particular situation and then try to project some sort of 'Obama doctrine' that we're going to apply in a cookie-cutter fashion across the board," Obama told NBC News anchor Brian Williams the day after his speech. "Each country in this region is different. Our principles remain the same." He rejected the idea of broadly "trying to use military force to impose or apply certain forms of government."

Other Libya-related insights into Obama's approach to leadership have emerged:

He is patient.

He waited for weeks before concluding that the time was right to take action, and he wouldn't be pressured by his friends or his political adversaries. In the end, he decided that America and its allies needed to impose the no-fly zone. But this decision still generated considerable confusion. Obama said he wanted Qadhafi to surrender power but that this outcome was not the specific goal of America's initial intervention.

He is deliberative

Not someone who makes decisions based on instinct, as was his predecessor George W. Bush. Obama heard out the arguments of his cabinet and his key advisers, like the law professor he used to be. It's clear that he doesn't like to make abrupt choices without thinking things through.

He is flexible

Not the ideologue of the left that conservatives had feared. He will change his mind if he feels it's appropriate, such as when circumstances change. He did this in dealing with Libya. At first he opposed getting the United States involved militarily. But a few weeks later, he decided that the humanitarian crisis was so serious that America had to act, but only with the support of other nations.

He is opportunistic.

Two days after his Libya speech, he pivoted and tried to tie his energy policies to the turmoil in the Mideast. In a speech at Georgetown University, he called for a reduction in foreign oil imports by one third in just over a decade. This notion of moving toward energy independence has been a goal of American presidents for many years, and Obama felt that, as his former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel once said, he shouldn't let a good crisis go to waste in propelling his agenda. Obama wants to encourage alternative forms of energy and allow more domestic energy production of various types (though not as extensively as many Republicans favor).

All this is comforting to some and disturbing to others. Obama's supporters see his approach to Libya and military intervention as prudent and appropriately cautious. But his critics say he has shown a lack of decisive leadership and has seemed tentative and weak. The growing passel of possible Republican presidential candidates immediately went on the attack. "You have a spectator in chief instead of a commander in chief," said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi attacked the president for "dithering." Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said Obama has been "tentative, indecisive, timid, and nuanced." Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said, "We've received different messages from our president and from his advisers as to what it is that we are doing there and what the mission is."

The hallmarks of Obama's approach to leadership are evident. He is a cautious decision-maker, and he has a strong sense of limits. All this will be fodder for the 2012 campaign.

 

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Obama's Approach to Libya Fodder for 2012 Presidential Campaign | Politics

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