The Comparison of George Bush and Barack Obama's Foreign Policy against the Iran’s Nuclear Case

Addressing Iran’s nuclear case was a major constituent of the foreign policy of the United States of America in the administrations of both George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Therefore, this research attempts to draw a comparison between these administrations with the ultimate goal to answering this question; what were the differences between the Bush and Obama approaches to Iran's nuclear case and which international relations approaches provide the best analysis of the Bush-Obama approach to Iran's nuclear case? According to the research data, the performance of George W. Bush and his cabinet which was strongly influenced by Neo-conservatism beliefs could be analyzed within the framework of offensive realism approach. Bush administration had primarily adopted a unilateral approach to Iran’s nuclear program via emphasis on American exceptionalism, making constant threats to attack Iran’s nuclear installations and not cooperating with other powers involved in the case. On the other hand, Barack Obama, with using the Neoliberalism's facts, demanding of cooperation, interaction, attention to the role of diplomacy, the using of soft power and the capacity of international organizations in foreign policy. Thus, he managed to gain the consensus of major powers and influential economic and political institutions against Iran trough adopting the policy of U.S. driven multilateralism which culminated in an agreement between Iran and 5+1 countries after prolonged negotiations.