ABSTRACT

In this volume, leading scholars of U.S. foreign policy, international relations, and political psychology examine one of the most consequential and controversial statements of national security policy in contemporary American history. Unlike other books which focus only on unilateralism or preventive war, Stanley A. Renshon and Peter Suedfeld provide a comprehensive framework with which to analyze the Bush Doctrine by identifying five central and interrelated elements of the doctrine:

  • American pre-eminence
  • assertive realism
  • equivocal alliances
  • selective multilateralism
  • democratic transformation.

Given its centrality to American national security, and the fact that the effects of it are likely to be felt well into the twenty-first century, Understanding the Bush Doctrine provides a critically balanced and pointed assessment of the Bush Doctrine and its premises, as well as a fair appraisal of its implications and prospects.

chapter 1|37 pages

The Bush Doctrine Considered

chapter 2|26 pages

International Relations Theory Meets World Politics

The Neoconservative vs. Realism Debate

chapter 3|40 pages

The Convinced, the Skeptical, and the Hostile

American and World Public Opinion on the Bush Doctrine

chapter 5|23 pages

Illusionary Promises and Strategic Reality

Rethinking the Implications of Strategic Deterrence in a Post-9/11 World

chapter 6|22 pages

Deterrence in an Age of Asymmetric Rivals

Rogue Leaders and Terrorists

chapter 7|26 pages

Preventive War and the Bush Doctrine

Theoretical Logic and Historical Roots

chapter 10|20 pages

The Bush Doctrine Abroad

chapter 11|17 pages

Anti-Americanism

Seeing Ourselves in the Mirror of the United States

chapter 12|30 pages

Premature Obituary

The Future of the Bush Doctrine

chapter 13|10 pages

The Bush Doctrine in Perspective