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This dissertation examines President Barack Obama as a symbol and his rhetoric through an Afrocentric analytical lens. The problem that prompted my research was the current process (and future probability) of President Barack Obama's image and legacy being drastically revised from the current perceptions held by most who observe him daily. In this study, the researcher utilized an empirical, symbolic, and rhetorical approach to conduct an Afrocentric data analysis. This process included a review of the foundational terms and concepts utilized to express the Afrocentric idea (including Afrocentricity, location, and agency), and ultimately led to new concepts, analytical tools, and theories based on the evidence manifested over the course this study. This text represents an attempt to seize the magnitude of the "Democratic day" that Barack Obama was elected in a way that it could strengthen understanding of the Afrocentric idea. Based upon the analytical foundation of Afrocentricity I presented a methodology described as Beneficial Extraction method that will highlight the information, examples, strategies and attributes that can be utilized, salvaged and implemented for the uplift of African people. My findings include, the need for an increase in the appreciation for incremental progress in the African/African American community and the need to refine the ability to recognize and benefit from multiple and diverse methods of struggle throughout the African Diaspora. / African American Studies

Shortly after his inauguration in 2009, President Barack Obama set to work on health care reform. Little more than a year later the President signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which achieved a goal of so many previous administrations, into law. In order to encourage the passage of health care reform, Obama promoted a health care crisis in America. This study examines the President's rhetoric surrounding the health care crisis in order to explore the characteristics of a potential sub-genre of presidential discourse—domestic promoted crisis. Textual analysis of the President's remarks on health care revealed five strategies used in order to promote this crisis to the American people and encourage legislation to resolve it. In addition to characteristics, the concept of promotion of crises is discussed. / Master of Arts

This study is an offensive realist comparative analysis of the drone policies used by the Bush administration and Obama administration during the Global War on Terror. The emergence of violent non-state actors have led to states having to develop new strategies for countering them. Drones were used by the United States in order to combat al-Qaeda, using new technologies in warfare to achieve this goal. This research addresses a gap by focusing on drone policies rather than the legality and morality of drone attacks or the effectiveness of drone strikes. This paper uses three offensive realist concepts; power maximisation, security maximisation and preventive warfare. The method used is a comparative analysis of the Bush administration, with the operationalisation of each concept. The findings of this research show that the drone policies used by each administration can be explained by the three offensive realist concepts. The Obama and Bush administrations prioritised power and security maximisation, while the Obama administration employed preventive drone strikes to a higher degree than the Bush administration. These findings are significant as offensive realism was able to explain the drone policies made by the United States during an asymmetric conflict.

I denne studien analyseres sikkerhetspolitiske utviklingstrekk i USA fra Bush til Obama. Fokuset rettes mot betydningsfulle kontinuiteter og endringer i overordnede syn på maktmidler, interesser og samarbeidstilnærminger. Empirisk materiale utgjøres hovedsakelig av ulike utgaver av amerikansk “National Security Strategy”. Slike strategier inneholder brede budskap, og som hjelp til å identifisere spesielt viktige momenter utarbeides først en teoretisk analyseramme basert på perspektiver til de samtidsaktuelle forskerne John J. Mearsheimer og Joseph S. Nye. Studiens resultater viser at militærmakten har en stabil posisjon som det høyest prioriterte maktmiddel i USA, men ny regjering satser mer på myke maktmidler og mindre på militærmakt ved fremming av egne verdier. Vedrørende interesser finner vi kontinuitet i at forsvar av nasjonen og håndtering av militære trusler er styrende for sikkerhetspolitikken, og USA har intensjoner om å opprettholde militær overlegenhet. Videre er også spredning av demokrati, respekt for menneskerettigheter og åpen markedsøkonomi konstante interesser, men en endring er at nasjonens økonomi er oppjustert på den sikkerhetspolitiske agenda. I et samarbeids-perspektiv synes unilateral militær agering mindre aktuelt for ny regjering, og internasjonale institusjoner er mer vektlagt. USA har imidlertid et videreført siktemål om å inneha en tydelig lederrolle og få stort gjennomslag for egeninteresser i internasjonalt samarbeid. Totalt sett indikerer de to regjeringenes sikkerhetsstrategier at styrende interesser er uendret, men den nye regjeringen har intensjoner om en mer balansert anvendelse av maktmidler og kommuniserer en mindre unilateral samarbeidsprofil. Forekomsten av vektige stabile trekk har imidlertid en dempende effekt på endringene, og bidrar til å gi inntrykk av at USA for tiden ikke staker ut en ny kurs, men justerer eksisterende kurs. / This study analyzes the development of the United States security policy from the administrations of Bush to Obama. Its focus is directed towards significant continuities and changes in the context of political means, interests and approaches to international cooperation. The empirical data mainly consists of U.S. National Security Strategies issued in 2002, 2006 and 2010. Such strategies contain broad messages and, therefore, to help identify issues of special significance, a theoretical framework based on the perspectives of the international relations scholars John J. Mearsheimer and Joseph S. Nye is first developed.  The findings of the study show that the position of military power as the most prioritized political instrument in the U.S. remains stable. However, in an effort to promote the nation’s values, the new administration intends to make more use of soft power and less use of military power. Regarding its interests, defending the nation and handling military threats are still top priorities, and an important aspect is that the U.S. intends to maintain its global military superiority. Spreading democracy, respect for human rights and free trade in an open international economic system are also constant interests, but one notable development is that the national economy figures more prominently on the security agenda. Looking at the approaches for cooperation, it seems that unilateral military action is an option which is less likely to be used by the new administration. Furthermore, this administration places greater emphasis on the value of international institutions than the previous administration. Still, an important continuity is the intention of maintaining a clear leadership role and strongly advancing U.S. interests when cooperating internationally. To summarize, the two administrations security strategies indicate that governing interests are unchanged, but the new administration is aiming for a better balance of the tools of American power, and is communicating a less unilateral profile. Still, the presence of significant stable aspects reduces the level of change, and contributes to the impression that the U.S. is not developing a new course, but rather adjusting the current one.