Obama's Foreign Policy

One of the questions I've posed to students concerns whether Obama's foreign policy will represent a significant departure from past administrations. In other words, would you emphasize stability or change? I argue that Obama's policy thus far reflects a continuation of US post cold war foreign policy. That is, it reflects a sense of American "triumphalism" and benevolent hegemony. (Fukuyama's 1989 article "The End of History" is a good place to start reading about this). This argument is made by Benjamin Schwartz in an excellent article published in February's Atlantic Monthly. Of course, I acknowledge that the Obama administration will employ different tactics and use "smart power" in order to achieve desired foreign policy outcomes. However, the grand strategy remains the same.