5. Obama’s Drone Wars and US Grand Strategy

The chapter delves into the Obama administration's use of drones as a key component of its grand strategy, focusing on the dual-edged nature of drone warfare. It explores the intensified use of drones for targeted killings during Obama's presidency, which aligned with his administration's hybrid grand strategy of promoting American exceptionalism while exhibiting military assertiveness. The chapter also highlights the security paradoxes that arose from this strategy, including the dronification and security paradoxes, which resulted in increased anti-American sentiments, retaliatory attacks, and a rise in civilian casualties. The chapter critically examines how these paradoxes undermined the intended outcomes of Obama's grand strategy, providing a comprehensive analysis of the complexities and unintended consequences of drone warfare in the Obama era.