The main event by far shaping the United States foreign policy during the presidency of George W. Bush (2001–2009) was the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, and the subsequent war on terror. There was massive domestic and international support for destroying the attackers. With UN approval, US and NATO forces quickly invaded the attackers' base in Afghanistan and drove them out and the Taliban government that harbored them. It was the start of a 20-year quagmire that finally ended in failure with the withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan.
Other interactions with foreign nations during this period included diplomatic and military initiatives in the Middle East, Africa, and elsewhere. Important economic developments that occurred during Bush's presidency include the several free-trade agreements.
The chief advisors of the president were Secretaries of State Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Appointments
George W. Bush administration foreign policy personnelVice President Cheney(2001–2009)Secretary of State Powell(2001–2005) Rice(2005–2009)Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld(2001–2006) Gates(2006–2009) Ambassador to the United NationsCunningham(2001) Negroponte(2001–2004) Danforth(2004–2005) Patterson(2005) Bolton(2005–2006) Wolff(2006–2007) Khalilzad(2007–2009)Director of Central Intelligence Tenet(2001–2004) McLaughlin(2004) Goss(2004–2005) Discontinued(2005–2009) Director of National Intelligence Not yet created(2001–2005) Negroponte(2005–2007) McConnell(2007–2009)Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Not yet created(2001–2005) Goss(2005–2006) Hayden(2006–2009)Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Rice(2001–2005) Hadley(2005–2009) Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Hadley(2001–2005) Crouch(2005–2007) Jeffrey(2007–2008) Trade Representative Zoellick(2001–2005) Allgeier(2005) Sapiro(2005–2006) Schwab(2006–2009)
Approaching foreign policy George W. Bush had little experience or interest in foreign policy prior to the presidency and his decisions were guided by his advisers. In a gaffe in 2000, for example, Bush confused Afghanistan's ruling Taliban with a musical band. Bush embraced the views of Cheney and other neoconservatives, who de-emphasized the importance of multilateralism; neoconservatives believed that because the United States was the world's lone superpower, it could act unilaterally if necessary.Smith (2016), pp. 181–182, 193. At the same time, Bush sought to enact the less interventionist foreign policy he had promised during the 2000 campaign.Draper (2007), pp. 128–130. Also during the 2000 presidential campaign, Bush's foreign policy platform included support for stronger economic and political relationship with Latin America, especially Mexico, and a reduction of involvement in "nation-building" and other small-scale military engagements. Oliver argues that Bush was quickly influenced by ideologues who argued for unilateral action to establish US primacy in world affairs. They included Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, – with Secretary of State Colin Powell as a non-ideological centrist.James Oliver, "Pragmatic Fathers and Ideological Suns: Foreign Policy in the Administrations of George H.W. Bush and George W Bush". White House Studies 7#3 (2007): 199–213.Roberta Haar, "Explaining George W. Bush's adoption of the neoconservative agenda after 9/11". Politics & Policy 38.5 (2010): 965–990.
September 11 attacks
On September 11, 2001, two hijacked planes destroyed the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon and a fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after being averted by passengers from its target. These attacks were carried out by the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization led by mastermind Osama Bin Laden
On September 14, 2001, Congress passed legislation titled Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists, which was signed on September 18, 2001, by President Bush. It authorized the use of US Armed Forces against those responsible for the 9/11 attacks and those who harbored them.
The September 11 terrorist attacks were a major turning point in Bush's presidency. That evening, he addressed the nation from the Oval Office, promising a strong response to the attacks. He also emphasized the need for the nation to come together and comfort the families of the victims. Three days after the attacks, Bush visited Ground Zero and met with Mayor Rudy Giuliani, firefighters, police officers, and volunteers. To much applause, Bush addressed the gathering via a megaphone while standing in a heap of rubble: "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon."
In his address to a joint session of congress on September 20, 2001, President Bush condemned Osama bin Laden and his organization Al-Qaeda, and issued an ultimatum to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, where bin Laden was operating, to "hand over the terrorists, or... share in their fate".
Writing about changes to the US State Department in the wake of the September 11 attacks in a 2020 article in Foreign Affairs magazine, former Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns and former Assistant Secretary of State Linda Thomas-Greenfield said, "Although the transformation of the State Department into a more expeditionary and agile institution was healthy in many respects, it was also distorting. It was tethered to a fundamentally flawed strategy—one that was too narrowly focused on terrorism and too wrapped up in magical thinking about the United States' supposed power to transform regions and societies."
Bush Doctrine
After the September 11 attacks, Bush's approval ratings increased tremendously. Bush decided to use his newfound political capital to fundamentally change U.S. foreign policy. He became increasingly focused on the possibility of a hostile country providing weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) to terrorist organizations.Draper (2007), pp. 166–169 During his State of the Union Address in January 2002, Bush set forth what has become known as the Bush Doctrine, which held that the United States would implement a policy of preemptive military strikes against nations known to be harboring or aiding a terrorist organization hostile to the United States.Smith (2016), pp. 277–278 Bush outlined what he called the "Axis of Evil", consisting of three nations that, he argued, posed the greatest threat to world peace due to their pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and potential to aid terrorists. The axis consisted of Iraq, North Korea and Iran.Herring (2008), pp. 943–944 Bush also began emphasizing the importance of spreading democracy worldwide, stating in 2005 that "the survival of liberty in our land depends on the success of liberty in other land." Pursuant to this newly-interventionist policy, the Bush administration boosted foreign aid and increased defense expenditures.Leffler (2011), pp. 34–35 Defense spending rose from $304 billion in fiscal year 2001 to $616 billion in fiscal year 2008.Leffler (2011), pp. 37–38
National missile defense On December 13, 2001, President Bush announced the withdrawal of the United States from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, a bedrock of U.S.–Soviet nuclear stability during the Cold War era. Bush stated, "I have concluded the ABM treaty hinders our government's ability to develop ways to protect our people from future terrorist or rogue state missile attacks." According to the announcement, the withdrawal was to become effective six months from that date. The Bush administration pursued a national missile defense. The national missile defense project that Clinton introduced and Bush supported was designed to detect intercontinental ballistic missiles and destroy them in flight. Critics doubted that the project could ever work and said that it would cost US$53 billion from 2004 to 2009, being the largest single line item in the Pentagon's funding.Stephen L. Quackenbush, "National missile defense and deterrence". Political Research Quarterly 59.4 (2006): 533–541. Online
Other issues
Environmental issues In terms of international environmental policy, Daynes, and Sussman argues the son was less committed than the father, and neither was as successful as Bill Clinton.Byron W. Daynes, and Glen Sussman. "Comparing the Environmental Policies of Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush". White House Studies 7#3 (2007): 167+. Many governments have criticized the failure of the United States to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, which was signed but not submitted for Senate ratification by the previous administration. Former President Bill Clinton recommended that his successor not submit the treaty for ratification until the wording was altered to reflect U.S. concerns. Bush, who was opposed to the treaty, rescinded U.S. executive approval from the proposed treaty. In 1997, prior to the Kyoto negotiations, the Byrd–Hagel Resolution passed in the U.S. Senate by a 95–0 vote. The resolution stated that the United States should not be a signatory to any protocol that did not include binding targets and timetables for developing nations as well as industrialized ones, or that seriously harm the American economy. Byron W. Daynes, and Glen Sussman conclude that Bush's policy had a "negative impact on the environment".Byron W. Daynes, and Glen Sussman, White House Politics and the Environment: Franklin D. Roosevelt to George W. Bush (Texas A&M UP, 2010) pp 189–209.
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC) came into being on July 1, 2002. The ICC is the first ever permanent, treaty based, international criminal court established to promote the rule of law and ensure that the gravest international crimes do not go unpunished.
Later that year, in August 2002, the American Servicemembers' Protection Act (ASPA) was passed by Congress with the stated intention "to protect United States military personnel and other elected and appointed officials of the United States government against criminal prosecution by an international criminal court to which the United States is not a party."
International trips
The number of visits per country where he traveled are:
One visit to Albania, Argentina, Austria, Bahrain, Benin, Botswana, Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Kosovo, Kuwait, Liberia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Rwanda, Senegal, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Vietnam, and the West Bank Two visits to Afghanistan, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Jordan, Latvia, Peru, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovenia, and Thailand Three visits to Egypt, South Korea, and Poland Four visits to Canada, China, France, Iraq, and Japan Five visits to Germany, the United Kingdom, and Vatican City Six visits to Italy and Mexico Seven visits to Russia
International trade