NPR reports that “President Obama’s first term was marked by the regular and dramatic use of military force: he ramped up troop levels in Afghanistan, increased drone strikes in several countries, bombed Libya and ordered the raid in Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden.”  

“In his second term, he has used force much more sparingly and his recent foreign policy address at West Point came under considerable criticism for emphasizing what he considers the limits of U.S. military power.”  

“So why such a change?”  

“‘My argument would be that what you saw at West Point is the culmination of a trend, and not a real shift in how he thinks about things,’ says Gary Schmitt, who follows security studies at the American Enterprise Institute.”