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Originally Posted by Botnst
The first illusion, however, is that Bush really changed anything. Historians will long debate the decision to go to war in Iraq, but what they are least likely to conclude is that the intervention was wildly out of character for the United States.
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The fact that it is not wildly out of character does not mean Bush hasn't changed anything.
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It is worth asking not only whether past administrations acted differently Yes but also which of these any future administration, regardless of party, would promise to abjure in its conduct of foreign policy. Which we won't know until it happens and thus whether Bush changed anything or not is to be determined
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As scholars from Melvyn P. Leffler to John Lewis Gaddis have shown, the idea of preemptive or preventive action is hardly a novel concept in American foreign policy. 7 And as policymakers and philosophers from Henry Kissinger to Michael Walzer have agreed, it is impossible in the present era to renounce such actions a priori.
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The idea may not be novel, but it's the first time an invasion has been launched without even a pretextual action by the invaded.
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And if by unilateralism we mean an unwillingness to be constrained by the disapproval of the un Security Council, by some of the nato allies, by the oas, or by any other international body, which presidents of the past allowed themselves to be so constrained?
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By unilateralism, I mean the disregard of the international community at large. Which his Dad was smart enough not to do.
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So long as Americans elect leaders who believe it is the role of the United States to improve the world and bring about the “ultimate good,”10 and so long as American power in all its forms is sufficient to shape the behavior of others, the broad direction of American foreign policy is unlikely to change
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This I agree with. I also think that the actions of this administration will make, 'American power in all its forms is sufficient to shape the behavior of others' last much shorter than it would have otherwise. Although perhaps it is better for us that America lose its stature as the most powerful country.