America Unbound

James M. Lindsay, Ivo H. Daalder

Description

"A splendidly illuminating book."
—The New York Times

Like it or not, George W. Bush has launched a revolution in American foreign policy. He has redefined how America engages the world, shedding the constraints that friends, allies, and international institutions once imposed on its freedom of action. In America Unbound, Ivo Daalder and James Lindsay caution that the Bush revolution comes with serious risks–and, at some point, we may find that America’s friends and allies will refuse to follow his lead, leaving the U.S. unable to achieve its goals. This edition has been extensively revised and updated to include major policy changes and developments since the book’s original publication.
1. The Bush Revolution.

2. George Bush and the Vulcans.

3. Bush's Worldview.

4. Building a Team.

5. The First Eight Months.

6. September 11.

7. Onto the Offensive.

8. The Bush Strategy.

9. The Inevitable War.

10. "We Were All Wrong".

11. The Aftermath.

12. Whither the Bush Revolution?.

Notes.

Acknowledgments.

Index.

Sujets

• Arms Control
• International Relations
• Political Science
• 9
• 11

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 21 avril 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780470325223
• Langue: English

Extrait

A MERICA U NBOUND
THE BUSH REVOLUTION IN FOREIGN POLICY
IVO H. DAALDER
JAMES M. LINDSAY



John Wiley Sons, Inc.
Copyright 2003, 2005 by Ivo H. Daalder and James M. Lindsay. All rights reserved
Published by John Wiley Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada
This book is a revised edition of the hardcover originally published in the United States of America in 2003 by the Brookings Institution.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone], or on the web at www.copyright.com . Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions .
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Daalder, Ivo H.
America unbound : the Bush revolution in foreign policy / Ivo H. Daalder, James M. Lindsay.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN-13 978-0-471-74150-3 (pbk.)
ISBN-10 0-471-74150-7 (pbk.)
1. United States-Foreign relations-2001- 2. United States-Foreign relations-Philosophy. 3. Bush, George W. (George Walker), 1946- 4. Balance of power. 5. Unilateral acts (International law) 6. War on Terrorism, 2001-Diplomatic history. 7. September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001-Influence. 8. United States-Politics and government-2001- I. Lindsay, James M., 1959- II. Title.
E902.D23 2005
327.73 009 0511-dc22
2005013207
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To
M ARC and M ICHAEL
and
I AN , C AMERON , F LORA , and M ALCOLM
The highest proof of virtue is to
possess boundless power without abusing it.
-L ORD M ACAULAY
C ONTENTS
P REFACE
1 T HE B USH R EVOLUTION
2 G EORGE B USH AND THE V ULCANS
3 B USH S W ORLDVIEW
4 B UILDING A T EAM
5 T HE F IRST E IGHT M ONTHS
6 S EPTEMBER 11
7 O NTO THE O FFENSIVE
8 T HE B USH S TRATEGY
9 T HE I NEVITABLE W AR
10 W E W ERE A LL W RONG
11 T HE A FTERMATH
12 W HITHER THE B USH R EVOLUTION ?
N OTES
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
I NDEX
P REFACE
This book is a completely revised version of the original edition of America Unbound: The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy, which the Brookings Institution Press published in October 2003. We thoroughly updated the discussions of the intelligence failures regarding Iraq s weapons of mass destruction and of how the Bush administration handled the occupation of Iraq. We also revised the opening and concluding chapters, bringing the story of George W. Bush s foreign policy revolution up to date through midsummer 2005.
ONE
T HE B USH R EVOLUTION
George W. Bush had reason to be pleased as Air Force One swooped in to land at Andrews Air Force Base in late February 2005. He had just completed a successful visit to Europe. The trip began in Brussels, where he hosted an elegant dinner for French president Jacques Chirac, a staunch opponent of the Iraq War. He next attended the twin summits of NATO and the European Union, in the process becoming the first American president to visit the European Commission. He then traveled to Germany to meet with Chancellor Gerhard Schr der, another fierce critic of the Iraq invasion. Before leaving Germany, Bush stopped at Wiesbaden Army Airfield Base to thank hundreds of cheering American troops and their families for their service to America. He then flew on to his final stop, Bratislava, for a summit meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, yet another vocal opponent of the Iraq War. Now, as Bush buckled his seat belt, he knew that his visit had drawn favorable reviews on both sides of the Atlantic.
Bush made the five-day, three-nation trip at the start of his second term to extend an olive branch to a Europe that had been hostile to many of the foreign policy decisions he had made during his first term in office. But in a larger sense, he and his advisers saw the trip as a vindication of his vision and leadership. The man from Midland had been mocked throughout the 2000 presidential campaign as a know-nothing. He had been denounced early in his presidency for turning his back on time-tested diplomatic practices and ignoring the advice of America s friends and allies. Many of the Europeans he had met on the trip believed that his foreign policy was dangerous and had rooted for his opponent in his run for reelection. The American people had thought differently, though. They had returned Bush to the White House by a surprisingly comfortable margin. So now he traveled through Europe, not as a penitent making amends but as a leader commanding respect.
As Air Force One landed at Andrews, Bush could say that he had become an extraordinarily effective foreign policy president. He had dominated the American political scene like few others. He had been the unquestioned master of his own administration. He had gained the confidence of the American people and persuaded them to follow his lead. He had demonstrated the courage of his convictions on a host of issues-abandoning cold-war treaties, fighting terrorism, overthrowing Saddam Hussein. He had spent rather than hoarded his considerable political capital, consistently confounding his critics with the audacity of his policy initiatives. He had been motivated by a determination to succeed, not paralyzed by a fear to fail. And while he had steadfastly pursued his goals in the face of sharp criticism, he had acted pragmatically when circumstances warranted.
In the process, Bush had set in motion a revolution in American foreign policy. It was not a revolution in America s goals abroad, but rather in how to achieve them. In his first term in office, he discarded or redefined many of the key principles governing the way the United States should act overseas. He relied on the unilateral exercise of American power rather than on international law and institutions to get his way. He championed a proactive doctrine of preemption and de-emphasized the reactive strategies of deterrence and containment. He promoted forceful interdiction, preemptive strikes, and missile defenses as means to counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and he downplayed America s traditional support for treaty-based nonproliferation regimes. He preferred regime change to direct negotiations with countries and leaders that he loathed. He depended on ad hoc coalitions of the willing to gain support abroad and ignored permanent alliances. He retreated from America s decades-long policy of backing European integration and instead exploited Europe s internal divisions. And he tried to unite the great powers in the common cause of fighting terrorism and rejected a policy that sought to balance one power against another. By rewriting the rules of America s engagement in the world, the man who had been dismissed throughout his political career as a lightweight left an indelible mark on politics at home and abroad.
Nevertheless, good beginnings do not always come to good endings. Even as Bush peered out the window of Air Force One, foreign policy problems persisted. American troops in Iraq were battling a vicious insurgency. Anger had swelled overseas at what was seen as an arrogant and hypocritical America. Several close allies continued to talk about how to constrain America, rather than how best to work with it. As the president stepped onto the tarmac, Washington was asking a new question: Was the president about to abandon the Bush revolution because the costs had begun to swamp the benefits?
The question of how the United States should engage the world is an old one in American history. The framers confronted the question only four years after ratifying the Constitution when England went to war with France. President George Washington ultimately opted for neutrality, disappointing partisans on both sides. The hero of Valley Forge calculated that the small and fragile experiment in republican government would likely be crushed if it joined a battle between the world s two greatest powers.
America s relationship with Europe remained an issue throughout Washington s presidency. He discussed the topic at length in the open letter announcing his decision to retire to his beloved Mount Vernon. He encouraged his countrymen to pursue peace and commercial relations. Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. But he discouraged them from tying their political fate to the decisions of others. It is our true policy,