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The world in America’s image The Second Bush
Presidency: Global Perspectives
Simply put, the ‘9/11 phenomenon’ continues to be the fulcrum around which the second Bush presidency revolves. However, the US policy towards China and the other great powers, rising India, the nuclear logjam in the Korean Peninsula and Iran, energy policy, environment, health and above all, pre-emptive tackling of the menace of global terrorism are some of the constants that are bound to bedevil the Bush presidency in the coming years. In The Second Bush Presidency: Global Perspectives, edited by Gupta and Samuel, all these and much more have been aptly discussed. The book debates the policy expectations and directions along with the attempt by the major powers to build a constructive relationship with the sole superpower. The book is particularly relevant as it examines the "myth of newcon take over" and the unprecedented influence of the religious right on US foreign and security policies. Tracing the basic contours of Indo-US Relations in the post-Cold War era, Amit Gupta has pointed to the remarkable transformation in the Bush administration’s policies, particularly on nuclear and Kashmir issues, which "provides the best short-term opportunity to gain international aspirations and objectives", sought by the Indian leadership over the years. However, Samuel warns that the "friendship with the US is not without its price"`85 the unspoken premise being that what is good for the US is good for the world." Even as a number of hawks in the US security establishment would like to see India "as a regional partner in an effort to contain China", Gupta has correctly pointed out that "US-India axis against China is not likely to emerge in the near future". For the time being, the globalisation process has made the three nations inter-dependent as never before. Liu Xuecheng points out that ‘China bashing’ has been carried out by successive US administration since the end of the Cold War, and the ‘containment of China’ theory now is nothing more than a rhetoric of the neo-conservatives. The truth is that the contemporary Sino-US relationship is in an unfamiliar terrain for the United States. China neither fits into the enemy syndrome of the ‘Soviet model’ nor the natural allies model, that Washington was accustomed to for most of the Cold War period. As such, the US warning of a possible confrontation with China goes hand in hand with the skyrocketing trade between them. Searching for an interactive model with both friends and foes in a new geopolitical reality, the US is often in a dilemma whether to accommodate allies critical of US security policies or to unilaterally trample over nations unwilling to accept the American worldview. In his chapter on ‘Bridging the Europe-America Divide’, Alan Dobson has clearly brought out the transatlantic divided: "Europe speaks of multi-lateralism and the US of unilateralism; Europe favours preventive engagement and the US preemptive or preventive military intervention." The speculation regarding the role of religious groups and its impact on Bush’s foreign and security policy has been elaborately discussed by Josef Braml. According to him, it is not faith alone that brings the Republican Party close to the Christian Right or the Religious Right. The Republicans find the Christian Right’s organisational network at the grassroots helpful in "providing financial resources and directly mobilisng voters both in elections and in the legislative process". Similarly, dismissing the
‘myth’ of neo-conservative takeover of the US foreign policy, Daniel
Sneider believes the ‘neocons’ or the neo-conservatives were always
"influential" if not as "powerful" as they seem
today. However, "the neo-cons were vaulted into a much greater role
by the events of September 11." These "radicals" within
the US administration believe in using power preemptively and
unilaterally "to destroy those who threaten American security"
and "to remake the world in America’s image". |
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