ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by discussing the current debate surrounding the First Gulf War (1990–1991). It shows that there are important Wilsonian factors that contributed to the American decision to go to war. The chapter deals with the contemporary debate surrounding the causes of the American decision to liberate Kuwait in 1991. It revisits the events of 1991 using the Wilsonian framework to show how the factors are an important influence on the decision to go to war. The Bush administration was determined to change the international order in the post-Cold War world to one more in line with that which the Wilsonian School had intended in the aftermath of the First World War. The chapter concludes that there is significant evidence that George H. W. Bush was motivated by a desire to create a rules-based international system, where the United States would lead the world in collective action against aggressors.
