President Obama's Speech: Close The Guantanamo Bay Center

On 21 May 2009, President Obama delivered a speech at the National Archives in response to stiff resistance from Congress concerning his intention to close the Guantanamo Bay centre. During his speech, Obama, who strongly defended his counterterrorism policies, made it clear: “rather than keeping us safer, the prison at Guantanamo has weakened American national security.” Keeping the detention centre open was “a rallying cry” for terrorists, making it easier for them to recruit more fighters, hence increasing the threat against the United States. Obama laid out his plan to transfer some detainees from Guantanamo to highly secure prisons inside the United States. On the other hand, he suggested “prolonged detention” for terrorist suspects detained
His address took place one week after a terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, and three weeks after the terrorist attacks in Paris on 13 November, masterminded by ISIS. During his speech, Barack Obama promised to intensify airstrikes against ISIS. Nonetheless, his speech wasn’t intended to make part of a new policy or a strengthening of the counterterrorism strategy to the American nation, but rather urged Americans to not give in to fear, nor to marginalise the Muslim community. Interestingly enough, this speech was the third speech Obama had delivered from the Oval office, “a setting meant to highlight the gravity of a subject.” Barack Obama also laid out security measures that were taken at home and abroad to keep the country safe. Among them, he suggested tougher screening of travellers coming to the United States without visas and called Congress to ban gun sales to people whose name lies on the government’s no-fly list, but also to limit the sales of assault
The U.S. foreign policy
In the course of history, many Presidents of the United States have defined their own foreign policy according to their view, ideology and the way they considered the rest of the world. Enjoying of the executive power, US presidents have a great impact on the policy making process. Most of them have designed during their presidency a doctrine, corresponding to their views, and consequently differ from each other. George W. Bush Junior and his successor Barack Obama have both restructured the political landscape of the world in the past years.
The foreign policy making in the United States is determined by two main bodies: The President and Congress, i.e. the executive and legislative branches.
The President plays the role of Commander-in-chief of the military and of the Nation’s chief diplomat (Journal U.S. DOS, 2000: 19). Nonetheless, he shares his powers with the Senate that approves the nomination of ambassadors and the ratification of treaties (Peterson, 1994: 220).
Congress also holds some of the executive powers relative to the foreign policy making. It has the power to declare war, to allocate budgets for the military, to call in the militia, it can reject the nominations of foreign policy functionaries and makes the laws (Slantchev, 2009: