George W. Bush's Foreign Policies ─ Principles and Pragmatism

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. 

Donette Murray is Senior Lecturer at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

David Brown is Senior Lecturer at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

Martin A. Smith is Senior Lecturer at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.