Bureaucratic Politics, Presidential Leadership Style and Crisis Decision-Making: Why Obama said Yes to Libya and no to Syria

Authors

  • Mikael Blomdahl Linköping University

Keywords:

Odyssey Dawn, Syria, United States, Bureaucratic politics, Presidential leadership, Foreign policy, Decision-making, Military intervention

Abstract

This article examines why the Obama administration in 2011 decided to commit U.S. armed forces into Libya and in 2013 decided to seek congressional authorization for the use of military force in Syria. This paired comparison illustrates how the combined effects of bureaucratic politics and the president’s leadership style contributed to the decision-making process of two different decision-making outcomes. The study finds mixed empirical support for the explanatory power of the bureaucratic politics model in both cases. The study also finds that the extent of presidential preeminence in the decision-making enables the understanding of yes in Libya and no in Syria.

Author Biography

Mikael Blomdahl, Linköping University

Mikael Blomdahl is currently Assistant Professor in Political Science at Linköping University. His recent publications include articles in Comparative Strategy, Diplomacy and Statecraft, and Armed Forces and Society. His primary research interests are Foreign Policy Analysis, U.S. foreign policy, humanitarian interventions, bureaucratic politics in foreign policy and re-examining the diversionary theory of war. He can be reached at mikael.blomdahl@liu.se.

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Published

2020-05-01

How to Cite

Blomdahl, M. (2020). Bureaucratic Politics, Presidential Leadership Style and Crisis Decision-Making: Why Obama said Yes to Libya and no to Syria. American Studies in Scandinavia, 52(1), 75–98. Retrieved from https://rauli.cbs.dk/index.php/assc/article/view/6518

Issue

Vol. 52 No. 1 (2020)

Section

Articles