The Bush administration has not welcomed dissenting opinions or multiple points-of-view because ostensibly it is "easier and more efficient" to act unilaterally and bypass the bureaucracies of multinational organizations like the United Nations. Thus, a seemingly blatant disregard for the input and opinions of other nations has characterized the Bush Revolution and has drawn criticism from foreign leaders.
The Bush Revolution reflects the cowboy mentality also through its spirit of independence. In principle, acting unilaterally and independently helps to quickly and efficiently accomplish American goals. Yet one of the consequences of the Bush Revolution is that unilateral action could also isolate the United States in the long run and could in fact work against the nation through the development of the anti-American sentiment that fuels terrorism in the first place. For example, to outright refuse to participate in any multilateral coalition on principle signifies arrogance, not wisdom, in the eyes of potential friends and enemies. Similarly, the currently chaotic situation in Iraq reflects some of the negative consequences of Bush's foreign policy.
The United States pursued, during the early decades of the 20th century, a noninterventionist foreign policy that differs sharply from the interventionist one pursued by the Bush administration. Not only did World War Two-era policies forge multinational coalitions and multilateral organizations, but America's foreign policy under Roosevelt and Truman also shunned the notions of preemption and overt desires to cause international regime changes. At the same time, intervention and regime change have characterized the unspoken foreign policy...
Iran, Nicaragua, Cuba, and Serbia are only a few of the nations targeted by the United States in a covert attempt to cause regime change. The United States, by instigating regime changes in nations viewed as possibly hostile, also acted preemptively to avoid economic or political fallout. Whereas Reagan asserted the evils of communism, Bush declares terrorism as the primary target of American interventionism.
The concept of "America unbound" is the essence of the Bush Revolution. The United States has, since the beginning of the Republic, cultivated a sense of its own uniqueness and its superiority even among Western nations. The Bush administration has only more overtly embodied American self-confidence than past administrations, pursuing unilateralism, preemption, and regime change as core elements of American foreign policy.
Works Cited
Daalder, I.H.. "Bush's Foreign Policy Revolution: A Radical Change." Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune. Sept 2004. Retrieved Sept 17, 2006 at http://www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/daalder/20040926.htm
Daalder, I.H. & Lindsay, J.M. "America Unbound: The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy." The Brookings Review 21(4) Fall 2003, p. 206. Retrieved Sept 17, 2006 online at http://www.brookings.edu/press/review/fal2003/daalder.htm
Daalder, I.H. & Lindsay, J.M "The Bush Revolution: The Remaking of America's Foreign Policy." The Brookings Institute. May 2003. Retrieved Sept 17, 2006 at http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/about/pdfs/bush_revolution.pdf#search=%22bush%20revolution%22
Daalder & Lindsay "America Unbound."
Daalder & Lindsay. "America Unbound."
