JEFFERSON/JACKSON/REAGAN, NOT WILSON...:

Bush's classic conservatism (Henry R. Nau, March 29, 2005, International Herald Tribune)

Conservative internationalists exist in the American diplomatic tradition, and Europeans - as well as liberal Americans - should recognize this school of diplomacy even if they disagree with it.

Bush draws on four features of conservative internationalism.

First he believes, like Thomas Jefferson, that freedom, not stability, is the essence of democracy. Jefferson wanted the tree of liberty to be watered periodically by the blood of patriots. Bush is not quite so sanguinary, but he mentioned freedom 27 times in his Inaugural Address and 21 times in his State of the Union address and stability not once. By contrast, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder of Germany mentioned stability eight times in his NATO address and freedom not once. Bush, like Jefferson, wants freedom to spread by commerce, not force. Both lowered defense expectations when they came into office. But then war came for both.

Second, Bush, like Andrew Jackson, reacts to war fiercely and unilaterally. As a general, Jackson invaded the Florida Territory in 1818 to squelch Indian attacks without authorization from President James Monroe or Congress. That's about as unilateral as it gets. After 9/11, Bush called the enemy evil and attacked him unilaterally without authorization from the United Nations. Unilateralism is not premeditated or mean-spirited; it's instinctive and self-protective.

Third, Bush, although an internationalist, is not Woodrow Wilson. He is not a strong believer in national administrations (of which Wilson was a student) or international institutions. He is very skeptical of the United Nations, where nondemocracies have veto power. His appointment of John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations signals continued tough love for that institution. Even among democracies Bush is more comfortable with "coalitions of the willing" than decision-making by NATO committees. He prefers NATO à la carte. For Europeans, of course, that's NATO as a "tool kit" and unacceptable.

Fourth, Bush, like Ronald Reagan, is a selective internationalist, not an institutional one. He sees negotiations as episodic not continuous. He often shuns or delays negotiations, as Reagan did, in order to alter the balance of forces on the ground and improve his bargaining position.

..that's a quitessentially American formula.

Posted by Orrin Judd at April 6, 2005 2:06 PM