The Obama Doctrine: The Underdog Factor

Many observers have been mystified by some of President Barack Obama’s policy decisions. Why, for instance, does he resist calling people who attempt to kill innocent Americans “terrorists”? And why does he refrain from identifying them as Muslim extremists?
By the same token, why does Obama play paddy-fingers with our enemies, while simultaneously disrespecting our friends? Thus, what is the point of a foreign policy that refuses to side with Britain when Argentina casts a covetous gaze at the Falkland Islands, even as it castigates Israel for building houses in a part of Jerusalem where it has a perfect right to build them?
The answer to these puzzles can be found in a central doctrine of Liberalism. Many liberals, especially those of the extreme variety such as our president, believe in defending the underdog. They see themselves as the defenders of the weak. In their eyes, their natural constituency is “the little guy,” that is, the one who cannot defend him or herself without their aid.
Muslims qualify for this special treatment because they are poor (save for the oil rich), backward, and politically impotent. Trapped as many are in a medieval-style religion, they are unfortunately unable to help themselves. As a result, they cannot be blamed for their transgressions, however profound. They must instead be “understood” and tolerated.
Meanwhile, the British are relatively powerful. They may have a better title to the Falklands than the Argentineans, but having successfully defended these in the past, they do not need our help in the present. In other words, they must be left to guard their own territories.
As for the Israelis, once upon a time they were underdogs, but those days are long gone. When there were only a few million of them bravely defending a tiny strip of land against fifty times as many better-equipped Arabs, they were plucky good guys. But then they made the unforgivable mistake of winning and suddenly they were transformed into racist oppressors.
There are, however, a couple of small problems with the Obama Doctrine. The first is that if an underdog should gain in power, he or she ceases to be an underdog. Now among the more powerful, their former champions must, in good conscience, abandon them. Indeed, they must now be cut down to size lest they abuse their status.
In other words, to stay in the good graces of devout liberals, one must remain a loser. Only the weak have their sympathy, hence despite heart-felt offers of assistance, their help is not intended to raise the frail into positions of independent power. To the contrary, their clients are expected to remain dependent and therefore grateful to their benefactors.
The second major problem with liberal egalitarianism is that it usually operates by seeking to bring the powerful back to earth. Since it is usually easier to undercut the strong than to elevate the weak, they typically concentrate on the former. This is why they tax the rich rather than enable the poor to become correspondingly wealthy.
When applied to foreign policy—including the war on terror—this means that powerful nations must give up their strategic advantage. First, they must renounce any superiority they may hold in nuclear, or even conventional, weapons. Second, they must refrain from throwing their weight around.
The upshot of the Obama Doctrine is that promotes one of two possibilities. Either mediocrity must become the norm, or some of the formerly weak must be permitted to become tomorrow’s oppressors. On the face of it, neither of these options is especially inviting, but they are where the logic of an underdog mentality leads.
In fact, the only way this policy makes sense is to assume that the United States is inherently evil. If its market-oriented democracy is a threat to the world at large, then mediocrity might be an improvement. Similarly, a nuclear-armed Iran, even one dedicated to destroying Israel, might not be a catastrophe. It might even rescue us from a notorious overdog.
Melvyn L. Fein. Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
Kennesaw State University