The Foreign Service Journal, February 2005

An Ambitious, Amorphous Strategy For all intents and purposes, the Rice Doctrine is the Bush Doctrine, an ambitious and amorphous strategy that is perhaps best summarized in a single passage from the National Security Strategy of 2002. The aim of U.S. for- eign policy, the document declares, is to “help make the world not just safer, but better.” Implied, but left unsaid, is that the United States will decide what is better. In practice, U.S. policy-makers operate on the presumption that the United States is entitled to take action against regimes that do not treat their people humanely — even if such states do not pose a threat to the United States. This policy stance is not dramatically different from those of previous administrations, both Republican and Democratic. A broad, bipartisan consensus has emerged since the end of the Cold War, based on the belief that the existence of American power obligates the United States to take action on a global scale. Consider, for example, the precedent set by the Clinton administration in the Balkans. Various voices on both the left and right of the political spectrum urged Clinton to wage war against the Serbs. A series of NATO- sanctioned air attacks, which resulted in an estimated 1,500 civilian deaths, were couched in strictly humanitar- ian terms. The military and diplomatic pressure on Slobodan Milosevic’s government was deemed necessary to avert an even greater human tragedy. The humanitarian aspects of the Balkan interventions pose a special challenge to many of the current critics of the Bush Doctrine, because many of them criticized a war F O C U S 46 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 5 Christopher Preble is director of foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute (www.cato.org) an d a founding mem- ber of the Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy (www.realisticforeignpolicy.org). H e is the author of John F. Kennedy and the Missile Gap (Northern Illinois University Press, 2004), and chaired the special task force that produced the report, Exiting Iraq: Why the U.S. Must End the Military Occupation and Renew the War Against Al Qaeda (Cato Institute, 2004). * per night, single or double occupancy subject to availability Y our search is over, choose a hotel where the federal per diem rate is available year-round. * t Luxurious Suites t All rooms with full size kitchen & stove tops t Fitness center t Complimentary in-room coffee t Full service restaurant t Parking available t Across fromMain State t White House, The Mall, and Metro Foggy Bottom station (blue & orange lines) within walking distance Accommodations State Plaza Hotel 2117 E. St. NW Washington, DC 20037 Telephone: (800) 424-2859 (202) 861-8200 Parking Available Rated HHH 1 / 2 by AAA www.stateplaza.com E-mail: reservations@stateplaza.com