The post-Cold War years (1/8)
President George H. W. Bush
The end of the Cold War did not
lead to any rejoicing in Washington. There were no victory speeches, celebrations,
or medals.
A certain justified , quiet satisfaction was apparent, but President George H. W. Bush rightly held that there was no need to rub Soviet faces in the mud, particularly as there were many daunting problems to over-come, including the reunification of Germany and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
A certain justified , quiet satisfaction was apparent, but President George H. W. Bush rightly held that there was no need to rub Soviet faces in the mud, particularly as there were many daunting problems to over-come, including the reunification of Germany and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
George H. W. Bush was the last US President
to have direct experience of the Second World War.
He also came to office with an excellent pedigree
in foreign affairs, having been a former envoy to China and the UN as well as director
of the CIA (Bush 1999).
Despite his considerable experience, Bush did not find it easy to articulate what
the US role should be in the post-Cold War world. One of those who did try and set
down some guidelines was Francis Fukuyama.
In a widely read and highly influential article (later a book),
The End of History, Fukuyama postulated that the collapse of communism meant that
liberal democracy had triumphed. Not all states were democratic or had market economies
but that was their common goal. This meant the end of history in the sense of searching
for the best system and the end of major wars. The Fukuyama thesis was challenged
by many, including Samuel Huntington, who predicted that the new fault lines in
the world would be cultural and religious leading to a ‘‘clash of civilizations’’
(Huntington 1996).
Even if there were to be no more
major wars, there were numerous smaller wars that posed difficult choices for the US. One of
the problems Bush faced was a reduced budget to buttress his foreign policy efforts.
Largely as a result of the massive arms expenditure during the Reagan years (1981–9),
the US had moved from being a cred-itor nation to being the largest debtor nation
in the world. As the treasury coffers were empty, albeit not for the Pentagon, Bush
could not offer the new emerging democracies in Eastern Europe anything like the
Marshall Plan that had benefited Western
Europe after 1945. Nearly all US assistance in the early 1990s was directed to Israel
and Egypt plus the small countries of Central America..
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The post-Cold War years
1) President George H. W. Bush
2) Case study: the Gulf War
3) President Bill Clinton
4) Case study: the US and Somalia
5) Case study: the US and the Balkans
6) Party differences
7) President George W. Bush
8) Conclusion & Selected further reading
The post-Cold War years
1) President George H. W. Bush
2) Case study: the Gulf War
3) President Bill Clinton
4) Case study: the US and Somalia
5) Case study: the US and the Balkans
6) Party differences
7) President George W. Bush
8) Conclusion & Selected further reading
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