Abstract

VALDES-UGALDE, José Luis  and  DUARTE, Frania. Del poder duro al poder inteligente: La nueva estrategia de seguridad de Barack Obama o de la sobrevivencia de la política exterior de Estados Unidos. Norteamérica [online]. 2013, vol.8, n.2, pp.41-69. ISSN 2448-7228.

The Bush administration's use of hard power and negligent economic and political policy caused a crisis of legitimacy of U.S. international leadership. To set this situation right, Obama opted for a smart power policy. However, its implementation has sometimes been blocked by domestic political polarization and economic crisis. Despite the circumstances, this policy has shown itself to be viable for achieving U.S. foreign policy aims since, in the face of different events, it has made it possible to gradually recover some of the spaces of influence in the world that the United States had lost.

Keywords : Barack Obama; hegemony and decline; foreign policy; smart power; security.