The Bush Foreign Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Bush Foreign Policy - Essay Example Diplomacy may be given a goal of reaching an agreement with a nation that will not agree to the terms set forth by our policy. This is the position that America finds itself in today. The Bush administration has drawn some very clear lines against some very real enemies. Diplomacy has been ineffective due to the conflicting nature of negotiation and the Bush administration's policy of standing pat in a rapidly changing world. Bush's foreign policy has been based on, and in response to, the events of 9/11. That terrorist action changed the way America viewed the rest of the world as well as its own vulnerabilities. It required a reshaping of policy to fulfill the requirement that foreign policy has of keeping the population safe and secure. It called for a swift and immediate overhaul of government agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to minimize the possibility of future attacks. It called for a rapid response against the perpetrators to assure the public that everything was being done that could. These first few steps, however admirable, were more designed for national public politics than affecting foreign policy. In the ensuing months, almost every foreign policy decision made has been to support the war on terrorism or to promote the policy on an internal political basis. In the September 17In the September 17, 2002 National Security Strategy paper George Bush stated that the United States would, "... exercise our right of self-defense by acting preemptively against such terrorists, to prevent them from doing harm against our people and our country; and denying further sponsorship, support, and sanctuary to terrorists by convincing or compelling states to accept their sovereign responsibilities" (Bush, 2). This declaration, initiated in a Strategic Planning Paper authored by Dick Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz 10 years earlier, signaled a dramatic shift in policy. The policy had shifted from national defense to national offense. It authorized the pre-emptive attack on any nation that may be harboring terrorists or aiding them in any fashion. Though the motivation may have been honorable, the strategy was at best untenable in today's world of elusive terrorists that are able to cross borders and manage funds by concealed accounts. He closed the document by saying, "Today, the distinction between domestic and foreign affairs is diminishing. The characteristics we most cherish-our freedom, our cities, our systems of movement, and modern life-are vulnerable to terrorism" (Bush, 5). Clearly he was crafting a policy that called for war on anyone, anywhere, that threatened his perception of our modern way of life. Much of his foreign policy has been geared toward the enemies that threaten to end the American way of life. He has promoted and advocated for liberalized trade around the globe in an effort to de-politicize the economic systems of the world. He has pushed for free markets and privatization as a means to place democracy in the market place. At stake is our American concept of freedom and the right to human dignity for all men.