ABSTRACT
The security doctrine of the George W. Bush presidency has been materially shaped by post-Cold War actors. The transnational terrorist threat of al-Qaeda under the leadership of Osama bin Laden, signaled by the coordinated attacks of 9/11, ushered in the “war on terrorism,” with the initial attack on the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The perceived threat to Middle East stability and the imminent threat of a nuclear capability, coupled with the stated association with the al-Qaeda terrorist threat posed by Saddam Hussein of Iraq was the stated justification for the March 2003 Second Gulf War with Iraq.
