« ITALIAN TV ACCUSES, US CHEMICAL WEAPONS IN IRAQ | Main | No APEC, No Bush »

November 10, 2005

Bill Clinton and George Bush: same strategy

From the war in Iraq to the Kyoto protocol, to the International Criminal Court, Bush’s international strategy is regularly accused of unilateralism in Europe. "But if George W. Bush’s positions exacerbated the discussion, it is not exclusively an issue of the present administration: Bill Clinton prepared the way", says Mariano Aguirre, expert in international politics, in an article in Enjeux internationaux.

He explains that even the liberal point of view is full of contradictions: “they want to be ‘multilateralists,’ but at the same time continue to act as a superpower.” Aguirre gives the example of the presidential campaign when John Kerry said that the war in Iraq was a mistake but at the same time asked the participation of France and Germany.

Bill Clinton simply was a “transition between the status of superpower during the Cold War and the aggressive leadership of the neo-conservatism of George Bush Jr.” “Bill Clinton already weakened the United Nations,” he says. That’s the consequence of a vision which sees the United States as the unique power in the world. But ironically, this strategy is absolutely not in line with the US’s interest, following Aguirre’s analysis. Over the long term, their interest lies not in a “benevolent domination,” nor in a “new empire.” To the contrary, it is in line with the “reinforcement of the multilateral system and its security, environmental and human rights accords,” he says, pointing out that the Bush and Clinton strategies led their country to “lose their credit, spend enormous resources in military research, and weaken their own economic system.”

In any case, he concludes, the complexity of the international system requires new responses. “A unique State can no more dominate the global system. And even if it could, it would probably not be the United States.”

Enjeux internationaux. N°9. 3eme trimestre 2005