The Legacy of George W. Bush's Foreign Policy: Moving beyond Neoconservatism

This volume incisively analyzes the foreign policy of George W. Bush. Examining the legacy of the forty-third President, author Ilan Peleg explains the complex factors underlying the Bush Doctrine: neoconservative ideology, real and perceived challenges to US world supremacy, Bush's personality, the White House's unique decision-making process, and the impact of September 11. Peleg argues that in its shift from deterrence and containment to prevention and preemption, from multilateral leadership to unilateral militarism, and from consensual realism to radical neoconservatism, the Bush administration has effected a true revolution in the foundational goals, as well as in the means, of US foreign policy. Peleg also offers a series of judicious recommendations for future administrations, including the reestablishment of a bipartisan consensus on foreign policy, increased emphasis on multilateralism, the demilitarization of US foreign policy, renewed focus on the resolution of serious regional conflicts, and more realistic expectations about noncoerced democratization around the world.

Author: Ilan Peleg
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 03/09/2009
Pages: 218
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.61lbs
Size: 8.96h x 6.02w x 0.50d
ISBN: 9780813344461

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 01/19/2009 pg. 53
Choice 09/01/2009
Reference and Research Bk News 05/01/2009 pg. 177

About the Author
Ilan Peleg is the Charles A. Dana Professor of Government and Law at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. He is the editor-in-chief of Israel Studies Forum and author of several books, including the award-winning Human Rights in the West Bank and Gaza (1995) and the acclaimed Democratizing the Hegemonic State (2007).