文档介绍：The Bush Foreign Policy Revolution,
Its Origins, and Alternatives
By John Langmore
August 2004
Global Policy Forum
The Revolution in US Foreign Policy
i. The Bush Revolution
Bush … set in motion a revolution in American foreign
Ivo H. Daalder and James M. Lindsay
e W. Bush campaigned for the presidency in 2000 as a ‘compassionate
conservative,’ a moderate who would govern from the middle ground. ments
during the campaign seemed designed to indicate that foreign policy would not be his
upation, although he thought America should play an active role in world affairs.
Yet during one of the televised presidential debates, he opposed what he called ‘nation
building.’ He warned against the danger of ‘mitting our military around the
world’ plained that President Clinton had done just that. He criticised what he
described as a lack of focus in Clinton’s foreign policy. He promised a foreign policy
that would be ‘humble in how we treat nations that are figuring out how to chart their
own course. If we’re an arrogant nation, they’ll resent us. If we’re humble, but strong,
they’ll e us.’ He seemed to believe that Americans were isolationist, saying in a
campaign address on foreign policy that ‘America’s first temptation is withdrawal.’ He
said that he would not lead America into protracted foreign military interventions.
Shortly after a majority of the divided Supreme Court settled the dispute about
votes in Florida in favour of Bush by a partisan vote, he started to name his and
other senior appointees. Colin Powell, who was more popular than Bush, was the natural
selection for the top foreign policy position of Secretary of State, even though his
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relations with Vice President Dick Cheney were cool. The eight Republican foreign
policy experts who had advised Bush during the campaign, and who nick-named
themselves the Vulcans, received prominent positio