This is a good primer on foreign policy, from the Bush perspective. Lots of links. Excerpt
"The Bush Doctrine defines the enemy threat as a horrible combination of âradicalism and technologyâ that is not vulnerable to Cold War concepts of deterrence and containment. That is, terrorist groups and rogue states, who are unrestrained by the prospect of mutually assured destruction, create a new threat that demands an unprecedented response. To wait until they attack, as we might have historically preferred, is a far greater risk then can be justified. As President Bush warned at West Point, âIf we wait for threats to materialize, we will have waited too long.â The basic outlines of the Bush Doctrine are:- the United States will combat terror wherever it can be found using all means at its disposal including preemptive force;
- relationships around the world will be defined in terms of countries that support the war on terrorism and those that do not; and
- rogue nations and/or terrorist organizations cannot be allowed to acquire and/or threaten the United States with weapons of mass destruction.
The key sentence in the National Security Strategy for many critics has been, âTo forestall or prevent such hostile acts by our adversaries, the United States will, if necessary, act preemptively.â Critics of the doctrine argue that it appears to make first strikes the rule rather than the exception and ignores Teddy Rooseveltâs caution to âspeak softly and carry a big stickâ and instead, substitutes a policy of carrying a big stick with a loud voice." |