it is not fair to label Mr. Obama’s approach as “leading from behind.” He often takes the initiative to address foreign policy problems. It’s just that what he is doing is not working.
Obama’s “Leading from Behind” has U.S in full retreat
WASHINGTON, D.C.—“Leading from behind.” A White House official coined that phrase in 2011 to describe President Obama’s Libyan policy. His political opponents quickly seized on that characterization as an apt metaphor for how the president conducts foreign policy.