American Hegemony AFTER 9-11: The bush doctrine What are the 4 core elements of the Bush doctrine: Democratization even if at the expense of capitalism and by way of force (2) Preventative war (3) Unilateralism is the best policy for any country (4) God has blessed America Was this a new doctrine or just a return to history? It was mostly the latter, albeit more explicit and in a unipolar moment which meant that the justifications changed a bit.

WHAT ARE THE CORE ASSUMPTIONS OF THE BUSH DOCTRINE? Why is it a good thing to force other countries to be a democracy? Democracies are peaceful Democracy is natural (in the sense of natural law) and people want to be free if they can. Democracy will expand best if the US is willing to use force to make it so. Once introduced into new parts of the world, democracy is inevitable (Latin America as case and point) US security interests are secured when democracy is expanded

WHAT ARE THE CORE ASSUMPTIONS OF THE BUSH DOCTRINE? The use of preventative (vs. preemptive) war is justified An ounce of prevention is worth… The costs of not striking could be stunningly high Deterrence is dead? Long live deterrence… it is the only force the evildoers understand We say that nothing is new here. The US is responding to new threats with an old (and accepted) approach What do our different constituencies think about preventative war beyond Iraq? Our allies, the UN, and public opinion

WHAT ARE THE CORE ASSUMPTIONS OF THE BUSH DOCTRINE? Unilateralism is the best policy in two instances American interests should always come first: Examples: Mines, Kyoto, Intl. Crim. Ct., Chem. weapons, Small arms, ABM and test ban treaties We should lead alone when the world won’t deal with pressing collective action issues: Jaw jaw is a delay tactic for evildoers, free-riding is a problem with the Atlantic alliance

WHAT ARE THE CORE ASSUMPTIONS OF THE BUSH DOCTRINE? American hegemony is best for everyone We can’t tell you God has blessed us, but he has. You can trust our benevolence… Just look (not too closely please) at our history Balancing us is aggression? Expanding the American empire beats the heck out of the alternatives