ABSTRACT
The foreign policy narrative of the two succeeding administrations of US President George W. Bush provides the perfect, if somewhat extreme, proof. Its purpose was to establish an international image of the United States in conformity with the image the administration also wanted to project back to US voters. There was another incentive for the Bush administration to "militarize" foreign policy. The economic power of the United States is in decline. Its military power, though, still has no equal. It is therefore tempting to assign to this asset a central function in foreign policy. The foreign policy narrative of President George W. Bush thus made a virtue out of the fact that overwhelming military power had become the main asset the United States held in comparison to other states. In its narrative on foreign policy, the George W. Bush administration defined military prowess as central to all external policies and as the basis of the US position in the world.
