Professor Jennifer Welsh assesses shifts in US counter-terrorism policy

In advance of President Obamas major speech on counter-terrorism, Jennifer Welsh argues in a column for The Globe and Mail (23 May) that Obama is looking to take concrete steps to distinguish his foreign policy from that of George W. Bush.

Jennifer notes a number of shifts in US policy, including fewer drone strikes, allowing greater Congressional oversight of the countrys standards and processes for approving targeted killing, and transferring responsibility for the drone program from the CIA to the Department of Defense. She concludes by asking, Is this a U.S. administration that listens to its critics? The steps taken this week suggest that it might be. But we still have a long way to go. The war paradigm is deeply embedded in the American psyche, and in many U.S. institutions. What is clear is that Mr. Obamas government cares about its image particularly in relation to the previous one of George W. Bush.

The article can be read in full here.