ABSTRACT
By almost any historic standard, the Bush Doctrine is the most ambitious and aggressive grand strategy the United States has ever had. To be sure, the quintessential Cold War containment document NSC-68 argued that the “free world” faced an existential threat from Soviet “slavery” and tyranny and that the United States needed to assume a “world leadership” role to ensure the eventual victory of liberalism over totalitarianism. But NSC-68 acknowledged that bipolarity in the nuclear age limited the utility of force in what was ultimately a global “conflict of ideas.” The Bush Doctrine, by contrast, is the first time we have had a grand strategy that combines an ambitious vision to transform the world with unrivaled political and military power. This convergence of ambition and power is embodied in the Bush Doctrine’s explicit declaration that the United States will use its power “to destroy global threats to liberty and freedom.” Ultimately, as the doctrine proclaims, “The aim of this strategy is to help make the world not just safer but better.” 1
