All sides receive substantial support from foreign players, leading many to label the conflict a proxy war waged by the regional and world major powers. A demonstration in Homs, Syria against the al-Assad regime April 18, He reaffirmed that belief on November 19, To that end, Obama authorized an effort to train anti-Assad rebels. The program achieved minimal results, and the Obama Administration abandoned it in In the wake of a chemical weapons attack in Syria in widely blamed on the Assad regime, Obama insisted that Assad must give up his chemical weapons.
This led to an agreement which resulted in Assad giving up many such weapons, but attacks with chlorine gas continued. In , the United States was the only nation to veto a Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements in Palestine, with the United States being the only nation to do so. Obama supports the two-state solution to the Arab—Israeli conflict based on the borders with land swaps.
He said that both movements seek to bring justice and equal rights to historically persecuted peoples. Beginning in the spring of , secret meetings were conducted between the United States and Cuba in the neutral locations of Canada and Vatican City.
The Vatican first became involved in when Pope Francis advised the U. In December , after the secret meetings, it was announced that Obama, with Pope Francis as an intermediary, had negotiated a restoration of relations with Cuba, after nearly 60 years of strained relations. Obama visited Havana, Cuba for two days in March , becoming the first sitting U. President to visit since Calvin Coolidge in Privacy Policy. Skip to main content. America in the 21st Century. Search for:. Learning Objectives Examine the U.
Changes to the Electoral College apportionment of votes prior to the election saw a gain of six votes for the Republican party and a loss of six votes for the Democratic party when compared to the previous three presidential elections.
In his second term, President Obama continued to face a divided political climate. Learning Objectives Analyze the relationship between Obama and Congress, particularly during his second term.
The Tea Party emerged from the right wing of the Republican Party and pulled the traditional conservative base further to the right; the party was strongly opposed to abortion, gun control, and immigration, and focused primarily on limiting government spending. Although Obama won reelection in , Republicans retained their hold on the House of Representatives, and the Democratic majority in the Senate grew razor-thin; political bickering and Republican resistance created political gridlock in Washington.
From October 1 through 16, , the United States federal government entered a shutdown as Republicans in the House of Representatives attempted to delay or defund the Affordable Care Act. During the shutdown, approximately , federal employees were indefinitely furloughed and another 1. The Affordable Care Act was launched as scheduled on October 1. The House Freedom Caucus, formed in January of , is a congressional caucus consisting of conservative Republican members of the House of Representatives who are politically aligned with the Tea Party.
Tea Party : An American political movement known for its conservative positions and its role in the Republican Party; members of the movement have called for lower taxes and a reduction of the U. Marriage Equality and the Courts Several court ruling through the 21st century paved the way for marriage equality to be realized in Learning Objectives Describe the path towards marriage equality from Lawrence v.
Windsor was a civil rights case in which the U. Supreme Court held that restricting U. Hodges July 26, was the U. Supreme Court case that held in a decision that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.
While marriage equality was an important step forward for the rights of same-sex couples, LGBTQ people continue to face discrimination, violence, disproportionate rates of poverty and homelessness, and other obstacles to achieving full rights. Key Terms Defense of Marriage Act : A United States federal law enacted September 21, that, prior to being ruled unconstitutional, defined marriage for federal purposes as the union of one man and one woman, allowing states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages granted under the laws of other states.
Racial Tensions and Black Lives Matter Originating in in response to police violence, the Black Lives Matter movement has raised awareness of institutionalized racism in the United States.
Since August of , Black Lives Matter has organized more than one thousand protest demonstrations. Currently, there are at least 38 BLM chapters in the U. Key Terms indict : To formally accuse of committing a crime.
In , the United States was the only nation to veto a Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements in Palestine. In December , following secret meetings between Obama and Cuban President Castro, Obama announced the restoration of relations between the U. Perceptions of candidate qualities likely had a much smaller influence on the outcome than most pundits realize. The bottom line is that showed once again that it is very difficult to defeat an incumbent president in a time of economic growth — even weak growth.
Click here to read the other posts in this series. Please read our comments policy before commenting. Mathew J. Dickinson — Middlebury College Mathew J. Dickinson is professor of political science at Middlebury College.
Neustadt , and has published numerous articles on the presidency, Congress and the executive branch. Particularly […]. Click here to cancel reply. Facebook Facebook.
Figure 2 — Political Science and Politics election National forecast models Figure 3 — Political Science and Politics State election forecast models To be sure, the models differ regarding what specific economic measures matter to voters.
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