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Bush's
Failed Foreign Policy
October
8, 2001
by Walter Dean
This American can't help but wonder whether George Bush's
unilateralist, in-your-face policy of thumbing our nose at
the rest of the world is not somehow partially responsible
for the intensive increase in anti-Americanism worldwide,
which leads to despicable acts like the World Trade Center
attack.
From the start, what the Bush administration has told the
rest of the world is: "We don't care what you think or what
we've agreed to before, we're going to do things differently,
whether you like it or not." This has been particularly evident
on issues like the Kyoto treaty, Star Wars, the antiballistic
missile treaty, among others.
Coupled with this newfound American defiance towards the
world is the Bush administration's record, thus far, of yelling
loudly and carrying a soft stick. The best example of this
is regarding the incident earlier this year when China intercepted
an American aircraft. Despite all the bluster and posturing
of the Bush administration at the time, just a few months
later our policy towards them has virtually returned to what
it was.
I'm not a hawk, and I am certainly not suggesting that we
should overreact to circumstances with "a big stick." What
I am suggesting is that it undermines our credibility in the
world to talk one way and act another. It also undermines
our credibility to adopt a foreign policy which says to the
rest of the world that "We don't care what you think," which
sums up Bush's foreign policy thus far.
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