ABSTRACT
Candidate Bush positioned himself in the 2000 campaign as a president who would lead the country with ‘Compassionate Conservatism’ at home and with strong American values abroad. Bush identified the ‘foundation of our peace – a strong and capable military.’1 Not peace through treaties, not peace through loosely defined multilateralism, but ‘peace through strength.’ American strength first and foremost followed by the strength that flows from friendships and alliances based on commonly held values. Strength based on civilized coalitions that pursue the same needs together. None of this implies American isolationism, unilateralism or hegemony as a dogma. Rather, Bush sees the world from the vantage point of a type of conservative internationalism where cooperation is the logical result of the pursuit of common national interests and where national interests derive from deeper values.
