George W. Bush's Foreign Policies: Principles and Pragmatism (Contemporary Security Studies)

"This book offers a fresh assessment of George W. Bush's foreign policies. It is not designed to offer an evaluation of the totality of George W. Bush's foreign policy. Instead, the analysis will focus on the key aspects of his foreign and security policy record, in each case considering the interplay between principle and pragmatism. The underpinning contention here is that policy formulation and implementation across Bush's two terms can more usefully be analysed in terms of shades of grey, rather than the black and white hues in which it has often been painted. Thus, in some key policy areas it will be seen that the overall record was more pragmatic and successful than his many critics have been prepared to give him credit for. The president and his advisers were sometimes prepared to alter and amend their policy direction, on occasion significantly. Context and personalities, interpersonal and interagency, both played a role here. Where these came together most visibly - for instance in connection with dual impasses over Iraq and Iran - exigencies on the ground sometimes found expression in personnel changes. In turn, the changing fortunes of Bush's first term principals presaged policy changes in his second. What emerges from a more detached study of key aspects of the Bush administration - during a complicated and challenging period in the United States' post-Cold War history, marked by the dramatic emergence of international Islamist terrorism as the dominant international security threat - is a more complex picture than any generalization can ever hope to sustain, regardless of how often it is repeated. This book will be of much interest to students of US foreign policy, international politics and security studies."--Provided by publisher This book offers a fresh assessment of the Bush presidency that builds on the first cut of history (much of which is partisan) and the growing collection of memoirs and personal accounts purporting to explain America s 43rd president. This account challenges readers to look more closely at the strengths and weaknesses of Bush s two-term administration. Carefully reached, it provides compelling evidence to support its two main arguments: first, that this was a more complex administration than its actions, often judged crude and ill-conceived, suggested, and one that was capable of crafting much praised and politically sound positions. The second argument contends that the Bush administration largely (though not entirely) failed to grasp how the international system was changing (including, for example, the impact of the emergence of rising powers and the myriad implications of globalisation) and thus failed to position the US to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The book is intended as a critique, not a criticism, of the Bush administration. Significantly, it will be one of the first books to surpass the rush to judgement accounts, by dealing comprehensively and reflectively with the whole Bush Presidency. In order to unravel this presidency, the book explores the major foreign-policy initiatives undertaken by the administration using the language of problems . This framework will be used to analyse the conception, crafting and implementation of Bush s policies. It will also examine how these were received and perceived, both by opponents in the US and elsewhere, and assess the impact of factors partially or wholly outside the control of the US, notably events . This book will be of much interest to students of US foreign policy, international politics and security studies. " This book explores the major foreign policy initiatives undertaken by the Bush administration using the language of 'problems', to analyse the conception, crafting and implementation of Bush's policies.