International Relations Researches

International Relations Researches

Obama's personality traits and their impact on developments in international political economy (2012-2016)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Arsalan Ghorbani Sheikhneshin 1
Gholamreza Karimi 2
Sayed Saeed Mirtorabi 2
Shirin Haddad Zand 3
1 Professor of International Relations, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
2 Associate Professor of International Relations, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
3 PhD Student of International Relations, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/irr.2025.503694.2660
Abstract
Developments in international political economy have always been shaped by the complex interaction of structural and individual factors. Therefore, besides structural factors and components, the missing point in explaining and examining international developments should be sought when considering political leaders as agents. Leaders have made influential decisions that contradict their country's previous behavioral traditions in the field of international economics, and Barack Obama, as one of the most prominent and influential contemporary political leaders, is an obvious example of the impact of personality in shaping international relations and international political economy. The present study seeks to answer this question: How did Obama's personality affect the international political economy in the 2012-2016 period? The answer to the hypothesis is examined using an explanatory-developmental method, which states that Barack Obama, the President of the United States of America in his second term (2012-2016), has influenced the policy orientations of international political economy in the period 2012-2016 through the perceptual patterns, leadership, and decision-making style, utilizing diplomacy and a willingness to compromise, and concluding multilateral agreements and economic and trade cooperation with other countries.
Keywords
International Political Economy
Barack Obama
Political Psychology
Five- Factor Personality Model