|
|
|
ONLINE FEATURES
Book Reviews
BW Video
Columnists
Interactive Gallery
Newsletters
Past Covers
Philanthropy
Podcasts
Special Reports
BLOGS
The Auto Beat
Byte of the Apple
Europe Insight
Eye on Asia
Getting In
Investing Insights
The New Entrepreneur
NEXT: Innovation Tools & Trends
On Media
Technology at Work
The Tech Beat
Traveler's Check
TECHNOLOGY
Product Reviews
Tech Stats
Hands On
AUTOS
Home Page
Auto Reviews
Car Care & Safety
INNOVATION
& DESIGN Home Page Architecture Brand Equity Auto Design Game Room SMALLBIZ Smart Answers Success Stories Today's Tip FINANCE Investing: Europe Annual Reports Bloomberg BW50 SCOREBOARDS Hot Growth Companies: 2008 Mutual Funds Info Tech 100 B-SCHOOLS Undergrad Programs Rankings & Profiles |  |
SEPTEMBER 13, 2004
Making A Better Foreign Policy Bush needs to move toward the Powell military doctrine The outlines of a second-term domestic policy for George Bush are clear: a vision of an Ownership Society of lower taxes, more savings, and greater individual responsibility and risk-taking. But this Presidential election, for the first time in many years, is also a contest over national security, and the shape of Bush's second-term foreign policy remains unclear. While the Republican Party convention focused on the issue of who can best lead America in its fight against terrorism, there was little mention of the military doctrine and diplomatic strategy to accomplish that task. It's time for the Bush campaign to present its second-term foreign policy to voters. Here are some of the most important issues. In its first term, the Bush Administration rightly perceived the need to fundamentally change American foreign policy after September 11. When Islamic extremists are the enemy, not nation-states, the U.S. must act differently. But in both Afghanistan and Iraq, the Rumsfeld Doctrine of light, lethal, and fast military force left the job of destroying the enemy unfinished. The Taliban government was vanquished, but too few U.S. troops on the ground has prolonged instability, and Osama bin Laden remains at large. In Iraq, an incredibly efficient military victory was followed by enormous managerial incompetence. The Pentagon refused the Army's advice to send twice as many soldiers to secure the peace. The result? Today Fallujah and other Iraqi cities are a magnet for fundamentalist terrorists. Under the dictator Saddam Hussein, Iraq was not a hotbed of Islamic religious terrorism, according to the 9/11 Commission. In a second term, the Bush Administration would do well to return to the Powell Doctrine of overwhelming military force. It would also do well to rethink its antipathy toward nation-building. By refusing to allow the State Dept. to implement its detailed post-Iraq War plans, the Bush Administration severely damaged the chances of attaining its own goal of turning Iraq into a secular democratic state. So too in Afghanistan, where the Taliban are reemerging. Finally, a second Bush Administration should reconsider its policy of unilateralism. In the end, the U.S. was forced to turn to the U.N. to legitimize its occupation in Iraq and it could have used many more allies to spread the burden of troops and cost, which it now bears alone. Unilateralism has, in the end, been a costly policy, generating anti-Americanism around the world and ultimately damaging U.S. authority. There were significant victories against Islamic fundamentalists during the first Bush Administration. But there were major failures as well. It's time for the administration to tell the public how it plans to change its foreign policy to avoid previous pitfalls and attain its major goal of defeating terrorism.  Get BusinessWeek directly on your desktop with our RSS feeds.  Add BusinessWeek news to your Web site with our headline feed. Click to buy an e-print or reprint of a BusinessWeek or BusinessWeek Online story or video. To subscribe online to BusinessWeek magazine, please click here. Learn more, go to the BusinessWeekOnline home page  | | |
 Copyright 2004, Bloomberg L.P.Terms of Use | Privacy Notice |
Printer-Friendly Version
