The Bush Doctrine: A Realist Method for Idealist Goals

             On September 11th the United States witnessed the beginning of a war that will be fought for generations to come. The terror attacks forced the United States to retaliate against the new enemy of the 21st century. President George W. Bush reacted to this new threat in new ways. America's new enemy required new tactics to effectively defend the freedoms of its people and the Bush doctrine is the foreign policy that was directly formulated to fight terrorism. The Bush doctrine is principally a realist policy because Bush has reacted militarily as you would expect the most powerful nation in the world would in response to an attack on its soil. The Bush doctrine is also idealist because it is fighting for all the free nations of the world in the war against terrorism. The doctrine fights to defend liberty and fight for freedom of all oppressed people in the world.
             The overall goals that the doctrine strives to achieve are in line with many past US foreign policies, but offers different methods to reach those goals. In this paper I will argue: First, that the doctrine is a realist reaction to the attacks on September 11th. Second, the doctrine has a degree of idealism because it attempts to advance freedom that ultimately leads to peace. Third, the confidence and resolve that the Bush doctrine directs towards defeating the enemy contains a Wilsonian sentiment. Lastly, the goals the Bush doctrine attempts to achieve are similar to foreign policies of past Presidents faced with similar circumstances, but especially designed with new means in response to a new type of threat.
             The United States was attacked by a group of 19 Saudi terrorists, four commercial airliners were hijacked and 3,000 innocent citizens were killed. The second the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center the US foreign policy changed forever. George W. Bush was forced to adapt the US foreign policy after the attacks and by doing so, stepp...

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The Bush Doctrine: A Realist Method for Idealist Goals. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 02:52, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/27641.html