Doctrine of Restraint

The foreign policy of the Obama administration is the "Doctrine of Restraint". Military doctrine of B. Obama.
The foreign policy of the President of the United States, Barack Obama, is the practical implementation of his own "doctrine of restraint." I confess right away. It was not I who christened his foreign policy in this way. The term "restraint doctrine" belongs to New York Times columnist Roger Cohen. This term is quite accurate and quite worthy of widespread use.
So the "doctrine of restraint." What is it in relation to Obama's foreign policy? Obama is very skeptical about the possibilities of military power in general and US military power in particular. This skepticism extends to military interventions, which take on a long-term character. (Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq…) The source of this skepticism is that Obama believes that the time for decisions imposed by the United States is over. The current power of Washington is not enough for this. The Russian president has divined this shift in Obama's foreign policy and is using it brilliantly in Ukraine and in Syria. Russia is successfully filling the vacuum left in the world by the implementation of Obama's "doctrine of restraint." In Syria, Putin is doing what Obama would like to do but cannot. Here is the source of the desperation and weakness of the Obama White House, from which Putin draws handfuls.
Obama claims that Putin is "doing stupid things" for which he will have to pay. But now the initiative belongs to the Kremlin, which is doing what the White House wants but cannot. It is in this, in my opinion, that Obama's personal bitterness against his Russian colleague lies. Never before has Russia been so active in foreign policy since the end of the Cold War a quarter of a century ago, and never before has the US been so passive.
The "doctrine of restraint" also reflects the current state of the United States, but it also suits Obama's temperament. One feeds the other. Obama was elected president to get America out of two of the longest and most costly wars in its history. Iraq and Afghanistan were worth many trillions of dollars with which America was never able to buy victory. Nonetheless, Obama's real priorities were at home. At first, it was necessary to free ourselves from the trap of the 2008 crisis, and then to strengthen the internal framework of society. Not Asia, and certainly not the Middle East, but domestic problems were a priority for Obama.
This was facilitated by the fact that America of the 21st century, unlike America of the 20th century, no longer has decisive economic power. It is supported by China, stepping on the heels of Wall Street and Silicon Valley.
The current situation began to dictate to America a different foreign policy, for which Obama was already intellectually prepared. His temperament suited the current situation in the world, when more or less equal partners operate in the international arena, when diplomacy is more acceptable than naked brutal military power.