Download Chapter 15 AMERICA*S PLACE IN A DANGEROUS

Chapter 16
AMERICA’S PLACE IN A
DANGEROUS WORLD
Current Events/American Political Development
Focus: The Bush Doctrine
© 2011 Taylor & Francis
Background
• With the end of the Cold War, economic
power has challenged the primacy of military
power
• Thus, the world is economically multipolar
while the world military scene is now unipolar,
i.e., dominated by the United States
• The United States remains the world’s only
superpower.
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U.S. Superpower
Background
• The Gulf War of 1990-1991, provided
the first test to the United States’
military hegemony.
• President George H.W. Bush (41)
assembled a coalition of countries to
oust Saddam Hussein from Kuwait.
• However, his son, President George W.
Bush (43), has a decidedly different
approach to conducting foreign affairs.
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Background
• Specifically, the Bush (43) Doctrine of 2002
rejects the tenets of the
• Cold War doctrine of containment
• multilateralism
• deterrence
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Background
• Instead, George W. Bush’s foreign policy is
premised upon
• unilateralism
• preemption
• military supremacy
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U.S. military preponderance
Neoconservative Thinking after First
Gulf War
• Neoconservatives Paul Wolfowitz, Dick Cheney,
William Kristol, and Richard Perle
• Saw the United States’ decision not to intervene
in the Iraqi uprising in Southern Iraq (at the end
of the first Gulf War) as a missed opportunity to
remove Saddam Hussein from power.
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Neoconservative Thinking after First
Gulf War
• In response, Under Secretary of Defense, Paul
Wolfowitz drafts a new “military and political
strategy” (1992) to address the global changes in
a post-Cold War era.
• In the 1992 document, Defense Planning
Guidance, he advocates both unilateralism and
preemption to prevent the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction.
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Mid-1990s
• In 1995, Saddam Hussein’s son-in-law who
heads the Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction
program defects
• informs the United States and UN weapons
inspectors of Iraq’s production of biological and
chemical weapons.
• Chemical weapons were used on the Kurds in
1988
• prompted the United Nations to enact sanctions
• send weapons inspectors into Iraq.
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Project for a New American Century
• In 1998, neoconservatives form The Project for a
New American Century to promote stronger and
more aggressive U.S. leadership in global affairs
through “military strength and moral clarity.”
• Wolfowitz, Cheney, Kristol, Perle, Rumsfeld,
Armitage, and Bolton submit a letter to President
Clinton advocating a more decisive approach to
Iraq.
• They believe the current policy is “dangerously
inadequate” and Saddam Hussein must be
removed from power.
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Operation Desert Fox
• In October 1998, the UN inspectors are
removed from Iraq because Hussein
has, once again, violated conditions of
the UN Security Council resolutions.
• Between December 16 and 19, 1998
the U.S. and British launch attacks
against Iraqi military targets.
• The mission is called, Operation Desert
Fox.
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The Bush Presidency
• In January 20, 2001, George W. Bush becomes
President and assembles a cabinet dominated by
neoconservatives.
• But also includes “pragmatic realists” such as
Secretary of State, Colin Powell and National
Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice who advocate
continuing sanctions against Iraq.
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The 9/11 Attacks
• The neoconservative approach to foreign affairs
becomes evident after the September 11, 2001
attacks
• Bush addresses the nation and asserts that the
United States government “makes no distinction
between the terrorists who committed these acts
and those who harbor them.”
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The Response to 9/11
• Two days later at a Pentagon briefing,
Wolfowitz proclaims: “I think one has to say it's
not just simply a matter of capturing people
and holding them accountable, but removing
the sanctuaries, removing the support
systems, ending states who sponsor terrorism.
And that's why it has to be a broad and
sustained campaign.”
• Prompts realists to question the
administration’s intention to expand a war on
terrorism to a war on states (specifically, Iraq)
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The Response to 9/11
• In a meeting at Camp David on September 15,
2001, Bush convenes his advisors and Cabinet
Secretaries to discuss the military response to the
9/11 attacks.
• The decision to attack Al Qaeda and the Taliban
in Afghanistan is supported by the Cabinet
(Secretary of Defense, Rumsfeld, abstained from
voting).
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The Rise of the Bush Doctrine
• In January 2002, George Bush addresses the
nation in the annual State of the Union Speech
and identifies Iran, Iraq, and North Korea as an
“Axis of Evil.”
• Within the speech, Bush presents the idea of
rogue states colluding with terrorists that
threaten the free world.
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The Rise of the Bush Doctrine
• In June 2002, Bush is the commencement
speaker at West Point
• outlines a “major shift in national security
strategy from containment to preemption.”
• Bush also advocates the aim of America is to
continue military hegemony.
• Refers to the 1992 document, Defense
Planning Guidance, written by the current
Assistant Secretary of Defense, Paul Wolfowitz.
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Dissent within (and outside) the
Administration
• The Bush administration is fractured
between pragmatic realists (Powell, Rice)
and neoconservatives (Rumsfeld,
Wolfowitz).
• On August 5, 2002 Colin Powell advises
the President should not attempt to act
unilaterally—European countries including
Germany and Russia are concerned action
in the Middle East may escalate tensions.
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Dissent within (and outside) the
Administration
• Many former Cabinet officials from the
Bush 41 administration share Powell’s
concerns.
• In the August 15 edition of the Wall Street
Journal, former National Security Advisor,
Brent Scowcroft, warns the current
approach to Iraq is “moving too quickly”
and the President should allow more time
for diplomacy and inspections to proceed.
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Cheney
• Soon after this editorial, Vice-President Dick
Cheney addresses a Veterans of Foreign Affairs
group in Nashville
• Advocates a long-term strategy of regime change
that would transform the Middle East and
“advance the Israeli-Palestine peace talks.”
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National Security Strategy
• On September 17, 2002, the Bush administration
formally submits its National Security Strategy—a
radical change in foreign policy.
• Incorporates tenets of the 2002 Defense Planning
Guide (Wolfowitz), including:
• a reliance on preemption when dealing with rogue states
• the need for American military hegemony
• the use of military power to ensure economic supremacy
and provide for national security.
© 2011 Taylor & Francis
The Bush Doctrine
• Legacy under the Obama Administration
• Obama's criticisms of the doctrine
• Alternatives under new administration
• renewed diplomatic efforts
• change of focus from counterterrorism in Iraq
to Afghanistan
• end the Iraq War
• new Secretary of State Clinton to repair
America's relationships abroad, with both
friends and foes
© 2011 Taylor & Francis