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Bush Doctrine



 
 
The Bush Doctrine is a phrase used to describe various related foreign policy
Foreign policy

A state's foreign policy, also called the international relations policy, is a set of goals outlining how the country will interact with other countries economically, politically, socially and militarily, and to a lesser extent, how the country will interact with non-state actors....
 principles of former United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 president George W. Bush
George W. Bush

George Walker Bush served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He was the 46th List of Governors of Texas from 1995 to 2000 before being United States presidential inauguration as President on January 20, 2001....
. The phrase initially described the policy that the United States had the right to secure itself from countries that harbor or give aid to terrorist groups, which was used to justify the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)

The War in Afghanistan, which began on October 7, 2001 as the U.S. military operation Operation Enduring Freedom, was launched by the United States with the United Kingdom in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks....
.

Later it came to include additional elements, including the controversial policy of preventive war
Preventive war

A preventive war or preventative war is a war initiated under the belief that future conflict is inevitable, though not imminent. Preventive war aims to forestall a shift in the balance of power by strategically attacking before the balance of power has a chance to shift in the direction of the adversary....
, which held that the United States should depose foreign regimes that represented a potential or perceived threat to the security of the United States, even if that threat was not immediate; a policy of spreading democracy around the world, especially in the Middle East
Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
, as a strategy for combating terrorism; and a willingness to pursue U.S.






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Encyclopedia


The Bush Doctrine is a phrase used to describe various related foreign policy
Foreign policy

A state's foreign policy, also called the international relations policy, is a set of goals outlining how the country will interact with other countries economically, politically, socially and militarily, and to a lesser extent, how the country will interact with non-state actors....
 principles of former United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 president George W. Bush
George W. Bush

George Walker Bush served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He was the 46th List of Governors of Texas from 1995 to 2000 before being United States presidential inauguration as President on January 20, 2001....
. The phrase initially described the policy that the United States had the right to secure itself from countries that harbor or give aid to terrorist groups, which was used to justify the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)

The War in Afghanistan, which began on October 7, 2001 as the U.S. military operation Operation Enduring Freedom, was launched by the United States with the United Kingdom in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks....
.

Later it came to include additional elements, including the controversial policy of preventive war
Preventive war

A preventive war or preventative war is a war initiated under the belief that future conflict is inevitable, though not imminent. Preventive war aims to forestall a shift in the balance of power by strategically attacking before the balance of power has a chance to shift in the direction of the adversary....
, which held that the United States should depose foreign regimes that represented a potential or perceived threat to the security of the United States, even if that threat was not immediate; a policy of spreading democracy around the world, especially in the Middle East
Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
, as a strategy for combating terrorism; and a willingness to pursue U.S. military interests in a unilateral way. Some of these policies were codified in a National Security Council
United States National Security Council

The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and Foreign relations of the United States matters with his senior National Security Advisor s and United States Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the Presid...
 text entitled the National Security Strategy of the United States published on September 20, 2002.

National Security Strategy of the United States

The main elements of the Bush Doctrine were delineated in a National Security Council
United States National Security Council

The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and Foreign relations of the United States matters with his senior National Security Advisor s and United States Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the Presid...
 document, the National Security Strategy of the United States
National Security Strategy of the United States

The National Security Strategy of the United States of America is a document prepared periodically by the executive branch of the government of the United States for congress which outlines the major national security concerns of the United States and how the administration plans to deal with them....
, published on September 20, 2002. This document is often cited as the definitive statement of the doctrine. It was updated in 2006and is stated as follows:

Components

The Bush Doctrine has been formulated as a collection of strategy principles, practical policy decisions, and a set of logical rationales and ideas for guiding United States foreign policy. Two main pillars are identified for the doctrine: preemptive strikes against potential enemies and promoting democratic regime change.

The George W. Bush administration claims that the United States is locked in a global war; a war of ideology, in which its enemies are bound together by a common ideology
Ideology

An ideology is a set of aims and ideas, especially in politics. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to all members of this society....
 and a common hatred of democracy.

Out of the National Security Strategy, four main points are highlighted as the core to the Bush Doctrine: Preemption, Military Primacy, New Multilateralism, and the Spread of Democracy. The document emphasized preemption by stating: "America is now threatened less by conquering states than we are by failing ones. We are menaced less by fleets and armies than by catastrophic technologies in the hands of the embittered few." and required "defending the United States, the American people, and our interests at home and abroad by identifying and destroying the threat before it reaches our borders."

Then Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld

Donald Henry Rumsfeld is a United States businessman, politician, the 13th United States Secretary of Defense under President of the United States Gerald Ford from 1975 to 1977, and the 21st United States Secretary of Defense under President George W....
, in 2006 stated that: "If I were rating, I would say we probably deserve a D or D+ as a country as how well we're doing in the battle of ideas that's taking place. I'm not going to suggest that it's easy, but we have not found the formula as a country."

Unilateralism

Elements of the Bush Doctrine were evident in the first months of Bush's presidency. Conservative commentator Charles Krauthammer
Charles Krauthammer

Charles Krauthammer , is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning syndicated Op-Ed and Pundit . His weekly column appears in the The Washington Post and is syndicated in more than 200 newspapers and media outlets....
 used the term in February 2001 to refer to the president's increased unilateralism in foreign policy, specifically regarding the president's decision to withdraw from the ABM treaty.

There is some evidence that Bush's willingness for the United States to act unilaterally came even earlier. The International Journal of Peace Studies 2003 article The Bush administration's image of Europe: From ambivalence to rigidity states:

Attacking countries that harbor terrorists

The doctrine was developed more fully in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The attacks presented a foreign-policy challenge, since it was not Afghanistan that had initiated the attacks, and there was no evidence that they had any foreknowledge of the attacks. In an address to the nation on the evening of September 11, Bush stated his resolution of the issue by declaring that "we will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them." This policy was used to justify the invasion of Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)

The War in Afghanistan, which began on October 7, 2001 as the U.S. military operation Operation Enduring Freedom, was launched by the United States with the United Kingdom in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks....
 in October 2001, and has since been applied to American military action against Al Qaeda camps in North-West Pakistan
War in North-West Pakistan

The War in North-West Pakistan was an armed conflict between the Pakistani Army and Islamist militants made up by local tribesmen, the Taliban and foreign extremists....
.

President Bush made an even more aggressive restatement of this principle in his September 20, 2001 address to the United States Congress
United States Congress

The United States Congress is the Bicameralism legislature of the Federal government of the United States of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives....
:

Preventive strikes

President Bush addressed the cadets at the U.S. Military Academy (West Point)
United States Military Academy

The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational United States Service academies located at West Point, New York, New York....
 on June 1, 2002, and made clear the role preventive war
Preventive war

A preventive war or preventative war is a war initiated under the belief that future conflict is inevitable, though not imminent. Preventive war aims to forestall a shift in the balance of power by strategically attacking before the balance of power has a chance to shift in the direction of the adversary....
 would play in the future of American foreign policy and national defense:

Two distinct schools of thought arose in the Bush Administration
George W. Bush administration

The Presidency of George W. Bush began on his George W. Bush 2001 presidential inauguration on January 20, 2001 as the 43rd President of the United States....
 regarding the question of how to handle countries such as Iraq
Iraq

Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros Mountains, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, Iran
Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
, and North Korea
North Korea

North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , is a state in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula....
 ("Axis of Evil
Axis of evil

"Axis of evil" is a term coined by United States President of the United States George W. Bush in his State of the Union Address on January 29, 2002 in order to describe governments that he accused of helping terrorism and seeking weapon of mass destruction....
" states). Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State

The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the President's United States Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in United States presidential line of succession and United States order of precedence....
 Colin Powell
Colin Powell

Colin Luther Powell, Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, Meritorious Service Decoration, is an American statesman and a former four-star General in the United States Army....
 and National Security Advisor
National Security Advisor (United States)

The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, commonly referred to as the National Security Advisor , serves as the chief adviser to the President of the United States on national security issues....
 Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza Rice was the 66th United States Secretary of State, and the second in the administration of President of the United States George W....
, as well as U.S. Department of State specialists, argued for what was essentially the continuation of existing U.S. foreign policy. These policies, developed after the Cold War
Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state of conflict, tension and competition that existed between a number of world powers, including the United States, the Soviet Union, People's Republic of China, France, United Kingdom and those countries' respective allies from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s....
, sought to establish a multilateral consensus for action (which would likely take the form of increasingly harsh sanctions against the problem states, summarized as the policy of containment). The opposing view, argued by Vice President Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney

Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 in the George W....
, then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld

Donald Henry Rumsfeld is a United States businessman, politician, the 13th United States Secretary of Defense under President of the United States Gerald Ford from 1975 to 1977, and the 21st United States Secretary of Defense under President George W....
 and a number of influential Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense

The United States Department of Defense is the federal department charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the Military of the United States....
 policy makers such as Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Wolfowitz

Paul Dundes Wolfowitz is a former United States Ambassador to Indonesia, United States Deputy Secretary of Defense, and President of the World Bank....
 and Richard Perle
Richard Perle

Richard Norman Perle is an American political advisor and Lobbying who worked for the Reagan administration as an assistant United States Secretary of Defense and worked on the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee from 1987 to 2004....
, held that direct and unilateral action was both possible and justified and that America should embrace the opportunities for democracy and security offered by its position as sole remaining superpower. President Bush ultimately sided with the Department of Defense camp, and their recommendations.

Democratic regime change

In a series of speeches in late 2001 and 2002, President Bush expanded on his view of American foreign policy and global intervention, declaring that the United States should actively support democratic
Democracy

Democracy is a form of government in which power is held directly or indirectly by citizens under a free electoral system. It is derived from the Greek language d?????at?a , "popular government" which was coined from d???? , "people" and ???t?? , "rule, strength" in the middle of the 5th-4th century BC to denote the political syst...
 governments around the world, especially in the Middle East
Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
, as a strategy for combating the threat of terrorism, and that the United States had the right to act unilaterally in its own security interests, without the approval of international bodies such as the United Nations
United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, Social change, human rights and achieving world peace....
. This represented a departure from the Cold War
Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state of conflict, tension and competition that existed between a number of world powers, including the United States, the Soviet Union, People's Republic of China, France, United Kingdom and those countries' respective allies from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s....
 policies of deterrence
Deterrence

Deterrence can refer to:* Deterrence theory, a theory of war, especially regarding nuclear weapons* Deterrence , a theory of justice* Deterrence , a psychological theory...
 and containment
Containment

Containment was a United States government policy uniting military, economic, and diplomatic strategies to contain any further spread of Communism in the world after World War II, with the goal of thereby enhancing America?s security and influence abroad by preventing a "domino effect"....
 under the Truman Doctrine
Truman Doctrine

The Truman Doctrine is a set of principles of U.S. foreign policy declared by List of Presidents of the United States Harry S. Truman in a 1947 address to Congress to request $400 million in aid to Greece and Turkey, as well as authorization to send American economic and military advisers to the two countries....
 and post-Cold War philosophies such as the Powell Doctrine
Powell Doctrine

The "Powell Doctrine" is a journalist-created term, named after General Colin Powell in the run-up to the 1990-1991 Gulf War. It is based in large part on the Weinberger Doctrine, devised by Caspar Weinberger, former United States Secretary of Defense and Powell's former boss....
 and the Clinton Doctrine
Clinton Doctrine

The Clinton Doctrine is not a clear statement in the way that many other United States President of the United States United States Presidential doctrines were....
.

In his 2003 State of the Union Address
State of the Union Address

The State of the Union is an annual address presented before a joint session of Congress and held in the United States House of Representatives chamber at the U.S....
, President Bush declared:

After his second inauguration, in a January 2004 speech at National Defense University
National Defense University

The National Defense University is an institution of higher education funded by the United States Department of Defense, intended to facilitate high-level training, education, and the development of national security strategy....
, Bush said: "The defense of freedom requires the advance of freedom."

Neoconservatives and the Bush Doctrine hold that the hatred for the West and United States in particular, is not because of actions perpetrated by the United States, but rather because the countries from which terrorists emerge are in social disarray and do not experience the freedom that is an intrinsic part of democracy. The Bush Doctrine holds that enemies of United States are using terrorism as a war of ideology against the United States. The responsibility of the United States is to protect itself and its friends by promoting democracy where the terrorists are located so as to undermine the basis for terrorist activities.

Influences on the Bush Doctrine


Neoconservatives

Central to the development of the Bush Doctrine is its strong influence by neoconservative
Neoconservatism

Neoconservatism is a political philosophy that emerged in the United States. Its key distinction is in international affairs, where it espouses an interventionist approach that seeks to defend what neo-conservatives deem as national interests....
 ideology
Ideology

An ideology is a set of aims and ideas, especially in politics. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to all members of this society....
, and it is considered to be a step from the political realism of the Reagan Doctrine
Reagan Doctrine

The Ronald Reagan Doctrine was a strategy orchestrated and implemented by the United States under the Reagan Administration to oppose the global influence of the Soviet Union during the final years of the Cold War....
. The Reagan Doctrine was considered key to American foreign policy until the end of the Cold War
Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state of conflict, tension and competition that existed between a number of world powers, including the United States, the Soviet Union, People's Republic of China, France, United Kingdom and those countries' respective allies from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s....
, just before Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the fifteenth Democrat elected to that office....
 became president of the United States. The Reagan Doctrine was considered anti-Communist and in opposition to Soviet Union
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
 global influence, but later spoke of a peace dividend
Peace dividend

The peace dividend is a political slogan popularized by US President George H.W. Bush and UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the early 1990s, purporting to describe the economics benefit of a decrease in defense spending....
 towards the end of the Cold War with economic benefits of a decrease in defense spending. The Reagan Doctrine was strongly criticized by the neoconservatives, who also became disgruntled with the outcome of the Gulf War
Gulf War

"Persian Gulf War" and "First Gulf War" redirect here. For other uses, see Persian Gulf War .The Persian Gulf War was a United Nations-authorized military conflict between Iraq and a Coalition of Gulf War from 34 nations commissioned with expelling Iraqi forces from Kuwait after Iraq's Invasion of Kuwait of Kuwait in August 1990....
 and United States foreign policy under Bill Clinton, sparking them to call for change towards global stability through their support for active intervention and the democratic peace theory
Democratic peace theory

The democratic peace theory holds that democracy — usually, liberal democracy — never go to war with one another.The original theory and research on wars has been followed by many similar theories and related research on the relationship between democracy and peace, including that lesser conflicts than wars are also rare betwee...
. Several central persons in the counsel to the George W. Bush administration
George W. Bush administration

The Presidency of George W. Bush began on his George W. Bush 2001 presidential inauguration on January 20, 2001 as the 43rd President of the United States....
 consider themselves to be neoconservatives or strongly support their foreign policy ideas
Project for the New American Century

The Project for the New American Century was an United States Neoconservatism think tank based in Washington, D.C. that lasted from early 1997 to 2006....
.

Neoconservatives are widely known to long have supported the overthrow of Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the President of Iraq of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003.A leading member of the revolutionary Ba'ath Party, which espoused secular pan-Arabism, economic modernization, and Arab socialism, Saddam played a key role in the 1968 coup that brought the party to long-term power....
 in Iraq, and on January 26, 1998, the PNAC sent a public letter to then President Bill Clinton stating:

Among the signers of the Project for the New American Century's
Project for the New American Century

The Project for the New American Century was an United States Neoconservatism think tank based in Washington, D.C. that lasted from early 1997 to 2006....
 (PNAC) original Statement of Principles were a number of people who later gained high positions in the Bush administration, including Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and Perle.

PNAC member and the chairman of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee
Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee

The Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee, also referred to as the Defense Policy Board is a Federal Advisory Committee Act to the United States Department of Defense....
 (DPBAC), Neoconservative Richard Perle
Richard Perle

Richard Norman Perle is an American political advisor and Lobbying who worked for the Reagan administration as an assistant United States Secretary of Defense and worked on the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee from 1987 to 2004....
, later expressed regret over the Iraq invasion
Richard Perle

Richard Norman Perle is an American political advisor and Lobbying who worked for the Reagan administration as an assistant United States Secretary of Defense and worked on the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee from 1987 to 2004....
 and ultimately put the blame for the invasion on President George W. Bush; while other renowned neoconservative ideologists like Joshua Muravchik and Norman Podhoretz claim that neoconservatives must take intellectual leadership and that traditional conservatives lack the insight on how to solve terrorism. Muravchik called former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld

Donald Henry Rumsfeld is a United States businessman, politician, the 13th United States Secretary of Defense under President of the United States Gerald Ford from 1975 to 1977, and the 21st United States Secretary of Defense under President George W....
 (a traditional conservative) a neoconservative hero and champion of military strategy, but that the strength of neoconservatives is their ideology as foundation for policies, and this strength is also recognized by political scientists. Muravchik claims these strengths are present in the case of the Reagan presidency as well as the Bush presidency, and that Bush unlike Reagan has contributed to the "fundamental solution" to the Middle East.

Other than Bush and Rumsfeld, other traditional conservatives who are thought to have adopted neoconservative foreign policy thinking include Vice President Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney

Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 in the George W....
 and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza Rice was the 66th United States Secretary of State, and the second in the administration of President of the United States George W....
.

The Bush Doctrine, in line with long-standing neoconservative ideas, holds that the United States is entangled in a global war of ideas between the western values of freedom on the one hand, and extremism seeking to destroy them on the other; a war of ideology where the United States must take responsibility for security and show leadership in the world by actively seeking out the enemies and also change those countries who are supporting enemies.

The Bush Doctrine, and neoconservative reasoning, holds that containment of the enemy as under the Realpolitik of Reagan does not work, and that the enemy of United States must be destroyed before he attacks — using all the United States' available means, resources and influences to do so.

On the book Winning the War on Terror Dr. James Forest, at West Point, comments: "While the West faces uncertainties in the struggle against militant Islam’s armies of darkness, and while it is true that we do not yet know precisely how it will end, what has become abundantly clear is that the world will succeed in defeating militant Islam because of the West’s flexible, democratic institutions and its all-encompassing ideology of freedom."

Natan Sharansky

Another part of the intellectual underpinning of the Bush Doctrine was the 2004 book The Case for Democracy
The Case for Democracy

The Case for Democracy is a foreign policy manifesto written by one-time Soviet political prisoner and former Israeli Member of the Knesset, Natan Sharansky....
, written by Israeli politician and author, Natan Sharansky
Natan Sharansky

Natan Sharansky is a notable former Soviet Union dissident, Human rights activism, former Refusenik, Israeli politician and author.Sharansky is chairman of the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies at the Shalem Center....
, and Israeli Minister of Economic Affairs in the United States, Ron Dermer
Ron Dermer

Ron Dermer was Israel's Minister of Economic Affairs in the United States. Born and raised in Miami Beach, Florida, he earned a degree in Finance and Management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University....
, which Bush has cited as influential in his thinking. The book argues that replacing dictatorships with democratic governments is both morally justified, since it leads to greater freedom for the citizens of such countries, and strategically wise, since democratic countries are more peaceful, and breed less terrorism, than dictatorial ones.

Expanding United States influence

Princeton University
Princeton University

Princeton University is a private university university located in Princeton, New Jersey, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League and has the largest per-student Financial endowment in the world....
 research fellow Dr. Jonathan Monten, in his 2005 International Security
International security

International security consists of the measures taken by nations and international organizations, such as the United Nations, to ensure mutual survival and safety....
 journal article "The Roots of the Bush Doctrine: Power, Nationalism, and Democracy Promotion in U.S. Strategy",<ref name="ispowerstruggle"> attributed the Bush administration’s activist democracy promotion to two main factors: the expansion of material capabilities, and the presence of a nationalist domestic ideology. He claims the Bush Doctrine promotion of democracy abroad is held vital by the George W. Bush administration to the success of the United States in the war against terrorism. It is also a key objective of the administration’s grand strategy of expanding the political and economic influence of the United States internationally. He examines two contending approaches to the long-term promotion of democracy: “exemplarism,” or leadership by example, and “vindicationism,” or the direct application of United States power, including the use of coercive force. Whereas exemplarism largely prevailed in the twentieth century, vindicationism has been the preferred approach of the Bush administration.

Criticism and analysis

The Bush Doctrine has resulted in criticism and controversy.

Experts on geopolitical strategy note that Halford Mackinder's theories in The Geographical Pivot of History
The Geographical Pivot of History

The Geographical Pivot of History was an article submitted by Halford John Mackinder in 1904 to the Royal Geographical Society that advanced his Heartland ....
 about the Heartland and world resource control are still as valid today as when they were formulated.

In his 2007 book, In the Defense of the Bush Doctrine, Robert G. Kaufman wrote: "No one grasped the logics or implications of this transformation better than Halford Mackinder. His prescient theories, first set forth in Geographical Pivot of History, published in 1904, have rightly shaped American grand strategy since World War II. Mackinder warned that any single power dominating Eurasia, "the World Island", as he called it, would have the potential to dominate the world, including the United States." Kaufman is a political scientist, public policy professor and member of The Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee. He said in an interview about the book: "I wrote this book because of my conviction that the Bush Doctrine has a more compelling logic and historical pedigree than people realize."

The Bush Doctrine has been polarizing both in domestic policies and internationally. Anti-Americanism
Anti-Americanism

Anti-Americanism, often anti-American sentiment, is a controversial term used to describe opposition or hostility to the people, culture or policies of the United States....
 has been rising, and as of 2008, polls show there is more anti-Americanism than before the George W. Bush administration started forming the Bush Doctrine; this increase is probably, at least partially, a result of implementing the Bush doctrine and conservative foreign policy.

Foreign interventionism

The foreign policy of the Bush Doctrine is subject to controversy both in the United States and internationally.

Critics of the Bush Doctrine are suspicious of the increasing willingness of the US to use military force unilaterally. Some published criticisms include Storer H. Rowley’s June 2002 article in the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune

"The Trib" redirects here. For other newspapers with similar names, see Tribune The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company....
, Anup Shah’s at Globalissues.org, and Nat Parry’s April 2004 article at ConsortiumNews.com.

Robert W. Tucker
Robert W. Tucker

Robert Whitney Tucker Jr. born in Selingsgrove, PA a writer and teacher was Professor Emeritus of American Foreign Policy at the Johns Hopkins University, Nitze School of Advanced International Studies....
 and David C. Hendrickson argue that it reflects a turn away from international law, and marks the end of American legitimacy in foreign affairs.

Others have stated that it could lead to other states resorting to the production of WMD or terrorist activities. This doctrine is argued to be contrary to the Just War Theory and would constitute a war of aggression
War of aggression

A war of aggression is a military conflict waged absent the justification of self-defense. Waging such a war of aggression is a crime under the customary international law....
. Patrick J. Buchanan writes that the 2003 invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq

The 2003 invasion of Iraq, from March 20 to May 1, 2003, was spearheaded by the United States, backed by United Kingdom forces and smaller contingents from Australia, Spain, Poland and Denmark....
 has significant similarities to the 1996 neoconservative policy paper A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm.

Political scientist Karen Kwiatkowski
Karen Kwiatkowski

Karen U. Kwiatkowski is a retired United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel whose assignments included duties as a The Pentagon desk officer and a variety of roles for the National Security Agency....
, in 2007 wrote on her article Making Sense of the Bush Doctrine: “We are killing terrorists in self-defense and for the good of the world, you see. We are taking over foreign countries, setting them up with our favorite puppets "in charge," controlling their economy, their movements, their dress codes, their defensive projects, and their dreams, solely because we love them, and apparently can’t live without them.”

Radical departure

According to Buchanan and others, the Bush Doctrine is a radical departure from former United States foreign policies, and a continuation of the radical ideological roots of neoconservatism.

Initially the support for the United States was high, but after 7 years of war, anti-Americanism is high and criticism of the Bush Doctrine is widespread; nonetheless the doctrine still has support among some United States political leaders.

The representation of prominent neoconservatives and their influences on the Bush Doctrine has been highly controversial among the United States public.

Critics, like John Micklethwait
John Micklethwait

John Micklethwait is the editor-in-chief of The Economist.Micklethwait was educated at Ampleforth College and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he studied history....
 in the book The Right Nation
The Right Nation

The Right Nation is a book published in 2004 which charts the rise of the Republican Party in the United States since United States presidential election, 1964....
, claim that George W. Bush was deceived by neoconservatives into adopting their policies.

Polarization

Anti-war critics have claimed that the Bush Doctrine is strongly polarizing domestically, and has estranged the allies of the United States, despite Bush's often-stated desire to be a "uniter, not a divider".

Compassionate belief and religious influence

President Bush often talks about his belief in compassionate conservatism
Compassionate conservatism

Compassionate conservatism is a political philosophy that stresses using traditionally conservative techniques and concepts in order to improve the general welfare of society....
 and liberty as "God's gift". In his Claremont Institute article Democracy and the Bush Doctrine, Charles R. Kesler
Charles R. Kesler

Charles R. Kesler is professor of Government at Claremont McKenna College. He studied a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard University,...
 wrote, "As he begins his second term, the president and his advisors must take a hard, second look at the Bush Doctrine. In many respects, it is the export version of compassionate conservatism."

Sociopsychological strategy and effects

There is also criticism on the Bush Doctrine practices related to their sociopsychological effects saying they create a culture of fear
Culture of fear

Culture of fear is a term that refers to a perceived prevalence of fear and anxiety in public discourse and relationships, and how this may affect the way people interact with one another as individuals and as democratic agents....
.

Author Naomi Klein
Naomi Klein

Naomi Klein is a Canada journalist, author and Activism well known for her political analyses and criticism of corporate globalization....
 wrote in her book The Shock Doctrine
The Shock Doctrine

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism is a 2007 book by Canadian journalist Naomi Klein.The book and film argue that the free market policies of Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman and the Chicago school have risen to prominence in countries such as Chile under Pinochet, Economy of Russia, the United States , and the privatiza...
 about a recurrent metaphor of shock
Shock

Circulatory shock, commonly known as just shock, is a serious, life-threatening medical condition where insufficient blood flow reaches the body Biological tissue....
, and claimed in an interview that the Bush administration has continued to exploit a "window of opportunity that opens up in a state of shock", subsequently followed with a comforting rationale for the public, as a form of social control
Social control

Social control includes to social mechanisms that regulate individual and group behavior, leading to Conformism and compliances to the rules of a given society or social group....
. Her 2008 book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism further elaborates on her impressions on the Bush Doctrine and throughout the George W. Bush administration.

Spreading democracy

Some commentators argue that U.S. intervention has not aimed to support genuine democratic regimes driven by local peoples, but rather US-friendly regimes installed by diplomats acting on behalf of the United States, and intended only to seem democratic to U.S. voters. For example, in the case of Afghanistan, it is argued that parliamentary democracy was downplayed by the US and power concentrated in the hands of the Afghan president Hamid Karzai, a U.S. ally. The election of Karzai has been described as the result of manipulation on the parts of the U.S. government and U.S. policy maker Zalmay Khalilzad. At the same time, these commentators draw attention to the number of unpopular (but U.S.-friendly) warlords achieving "legitimating" positions under U.S. supervision of the elections. Some commentators interpreted voter turnout figures as evidence of "large-scale fraud". Sonali Kolhatkar and James Ingalls have written, "It remains to be seen if U.S. policy makers will ever allow anything approaching democracy to break out in Afghanistan and interfere with their plans."

Of the elections in Afghanistan, Sima Samar
Sima Samar

Dr. Sima Samar is the Chairperson of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and, since 2005, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Sudan....
, former Afghan Minister for Women's Affairs stated:

Most studies of American intervention
List of United States military history events

From 1776 to 2008, there have been hundreds of instances of the deployment of Military of the United States forces abroad and domestically. The list through 1975 is based on United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs ....
 have been pessimistic about the history of the United States exporting democracy. Tures examined 228 cases of American intervention from 1973 to 2005, using Freedom House
Freedom House

Freedom House is a United States-based international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, Freedom and human rights....
 data. A plurality of interventions, 96, caused no change in the country's democracy. In 69 instances the country became less democratic after the intervention. In the remaining 63 cases, a country became more democratic.

See also

  • Carter Doctrine
    Carter Doctrine

    The Carter Doctrine was a policy proclaimed by President of the United States Jimmy Carter in his State of the Union Address on January 23 1980, which stated that the United States would use military force if necessary to defend its national interests in the Persian Gulf region....
  • Clinton Doctrine
    Clinton Doctrine

    The Clinton Doctrine is not a clear statement in the way that many other United States President of the United States United States Presidential doctrines were....
  • Jus ad bellum
    Jus ad bellum

    Jus ad bellum are a set of criteria that are consulted before engaging in war, in order to determine whether entering into war is justifiable....
  • Powell Doctrine
    Powell Doctrine

    The "Powell Doctrine" is a journalist-created term, named after General Colin Powell in the run-up to the 1990-1991 Gulf War. It is based in large part on the Weinberger Doctrine, devised by Caspar Weinberger, former United States Secretary of Defense and Powell's former boss....
  • The One Percent Doctrine
    The One Percent Doctrine

    The One Percent Doctrine is a nonfiction book by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Ron Suskind about America's hunt for terrorists since September 11, 2001 attacks....
  • United States Presidential doctrines
    United States Presidential doctrines

    United States Presidential doctrines are key Objective , Attitude , or stances for United States International relations outlined by President of the United States that were dubbed their "doctrines"....
  • War on Terrorism
    War on Terrorism

    The War on Terrorism or War on Terror are the common terms for the military, political, legal and ideological conflict against Islamic terrorism and Muslim militants, and specifically used in reference to operations by the United States, since the September 11 attacks....
  • Wolfowitz Doctrine
    Wolfowitz Doctrine

    Wolfowitz Doctrine is an unofficial name given to the initial version of the Defense Planning Guidance for the 1994-99 fiscal years authored by Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Paul Wolfowitz and his deputy Scooter Libby....


External links





  • April 2006


Books

  • Weisberg, Jacob
    Jacob Weisberg

    Jacob Weisberg is an American political journalist, serving as editor-in-chief of Slate Group, a division of The Washington Post Company, and a columnist for the Financial Times....
     The Bush Tragedy, Random House
    Random House

    Random House, Inc. is the world's largest English-language general trade book publisher. It has been owned since 1998 by the large German Privately held company media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing....
    , 2008. ISBN 978-1400066780
  • Bacevich, Andrew J.
    Andrew Bacevich

    'Andrew J. Bacevich, Sr.' is a professor of international relations at Boston University, former director of its Center for International Relations , and author of several books, including American Empire: The Realities and Consequences of US Diplomacy , The New American Militarism: How Americans are Seduced by War and The Limits of...
     The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced By War, New York & London, Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-19-517338-4
  • Bennett, William J.
    William Bennett

    William John Bennett is an United States conservatism Pundit_, politician, and political theorist. He served as United States Secretary of Education from 1985 to 1988....
     Why We Fight: Moral Clarity and the War on Terrorism, New York, Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2003. ISBN 0-385-50680-5
  • Chernus, Ira Monsters To Destroy: The Neoconservative War on Terror and Sin, Boulder, CO, Paradigm Publishers, 2006 ISBN 1-59451-276-0
  • Dolan, Chris J. In War We Trust: The Bush Doctrine And The Pursuit Of Just War, Burlington, VA, Ashgate, 2005. ISBN 0-7546-4234-8
  • Dolan, Chris J. and Betty Glad (eds.) Striking First: The Preventive War Doctrine and the Reshaping of U.S. Foreign Policy, New York & London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. ISBN 1-4039-6548-X
  • Donnelly, Thomas
    Thomas Donnelly

    Thomas Donnelly is a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research . Donnelly is a writer, an analyst of military affairs and defense, national security and foreign policy and the author of AEI's National Security Outlook....
     The Military We Need: The Defense Requirements of the Bush Doctrine, Washington, D.C., American Enterprise Institute Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8447-4229-5
  • Gaddis, John Lewis
    John Lewis Gaddis

    John Lewis Gaddis is the Robert A. Lovett Professor of Military and Naval History at Yale University. He was born in Cotulla Texas in 1941. He is a noted historian of the Cold War and grand strategy....
     Surprise, Security, and the American Experience, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-674-01174-0
  • Grandin, Greg Empire's Workshop: Latin America, The United States, and the Rise of the New Imperialism, New York, Metropolitan Press, 2006. ISBN 0-8050-7738-3
  • Hayes, Stephen S. The Brain: Paul Wolfowitz and the Making of the Bush Doctrine, New York, HarperCollins, Forthcoming (2007?). ISBN 0-06-072346-7
  • Kaplan, Lawrence and William Kristol
    William Kristol

    William Kristol is an United States Politics of the United States analyst and commentator. He is the founder and editor of the political magazine The Weekly Standard, a regular commentator on the Fox News Channel, and a former conservative op-ed for the New York Times....
     The War over Iraq: Saddam's Tyranny and America's Mission, San Francisco, Encounter Books, 2003. ISBN 1-893554-69-4
  • Kolodziej, Edward A. and Roger E. Kanet (eds.) From Superpower to Besieged Global Power: Restoring World Order after the Failure of the Bush Doctrine, Athens, GA, University of Georgia Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8203-3074-7
  • McAdam, Richard. American Leadership and the Future of the Bush Doctrine: US Foreign Policy in the 21st Century. Saarbrucken: VDM, 2008. ISBN 978-3639061352
  • Shanahan, Timothy (ed.) Philosophy 9/11: Thinking about the War on Terrorism, Chicago & LaSalle, IL, Open Court, 2005 ISBN 0-8126-9582-8
  • Smith, Grant F. Deadly Dogma, Washington, DC, Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy, 2006. ISBN 0-9764437-4-0
  • Tremblay, Rodrigue
    Rodrigue Tremblay

    Rodrigue Tremblay is a Canadian-born economist, humanist and political figure. He teaches economics at the Universit? de Montr?al. He specializes in macroeconomics, international trade and finance, and public finance....
     The New American Empire, West Conshohocken, PA, Infinity, 2004, ISBN 0-7414-1887-8
  • Woodward, Bob
    Bob Woodward

    Bob Woodward is regarded as one of America's preeminent investigative reporters and non-fiction authors. He has worked for The Washington Post since 1971 as a reporter, and is currently an associate editor of the Post....
     Plan of Attack, New York, Simon & Schuster, 2004. ISBN 0-7432-5547-X
  • Wright, Steven. The United States and Persian Gulf Security: The Foundations of the War on Terror, Ithaca Press, 2007 ISBN 978-0863723216