Obama’s election rebranded rather than ended American imperial policy

Evidence

By the end of Bush’s second term, however, the failing occupations in Afghanistan and Iraq—as well as the economic crisis of 2007–2008, whose proportions were not seen since the Great Depression—meant that it was time for a change. The ruling elite also gave Obama their blessing, hoping to put a friendlier face on US imperialism. The other team of imperialists was ready with a plan to rehabilitate the global image of American empire and to secure its interests on the world stage. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 495

Categorization

• XREF: Sharpens the cluster’s continuity-of-empire claim against liberal readers who treat Obama as a rupture from Bush-era Islamophobia. — connects to: The Bush-to-Obama transition was rhetorical, not structural — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 527; Obama’s realist framing masked a continuation of Bush-era imperial warfare — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 501; Obama’s election marked a new era but could not reverse cultural shifts — W. David Marx, Blank Space: A Cultural History of the…, 204 (+11 more)

Broader Connections

• Bush to Obama was a rhetorical shift masking unchanged imperial fundamentals. #corroborates (0.95)
• Obama continued and expanded Bush’s imperial wars despite softer rhetoric #corroborates (0.95) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 579
• Obama’s Cairo speech repackaged rather than abandoned the imperial frame #exemplifies (0.90)
• Obama’s election marked a new era but could not reverse cultural shifts #expands (0.85) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 204
• Obama’s multilateral realism was a continuity of Bush-era imperial strategy #corroborates (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 501
• Obama-era counterterrorism propaganda used multicultural imagery to mask imperial policy #exemplifies (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 614
• Liberal Muslim-American leaders were co-opted into rebranding imperial policy #exemplifies (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 496
• Biden premised returning to liberal empire rather than ending imperial policies #expands (0.80)
• Obama’s liberalism and right-wing Muslim-baiting both served US imperial hegemony #expands (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 512
• Obama’s election marked a peak of post-racial triumphalism, not its end #complicates (0.80) — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 1292
• Obama’s 2008 victory could not reverse already-established cultural trends #complicates (0.75) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 204