Table Of ContentSTRIKING FIRST
STRIKING FIRST
THE PREVENTIVE WAR DocTRINE
AND THE RESHAPING OF U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
EDITED BY
BETTY GLAD AND
J.
CHRIS DoLAN
*
STRIKING FIRST
© Betty Glad and Chris j. Dolan, 2004.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2004 978-1-4039-6548-6
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First published in 2004 by
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ISBN 978-1-349-73288-3 ISBN 978-1-137-08576-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-137-08576-4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Striking First :the preventive doctrine and the reshaping of U.S. foreign
policy I Betty Glad and Chris j. Nolan, editors.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. United States-Foreign relations-2001-2. Terrorism-Government
policy-United States. 3. War on Terrorism, 2001 - 4. United States-Military
policy. 5. Preemptive attack (Military science) I. Glad, Betty. II. Dolan, Chris j.
E902.S77 2004
327.73'009'0511-dc22 2004049759
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: November 2004
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Transferred to digital printing in 2006.
CoNTENTS
List ofF igures, Tables, and Charts vu
Acknowledgments vm
Introduction 1x
Part 1 The Political Impact of 9111 and Wars Against Rogue
Regimes: Decision Making and Direct Political Impact 1
1. Foreign Policy on the Offensive 3
Chris J Dolan
2. The Ascendancy of Vice President Dick Cheney 23
jack Lechelt
3. The Roots of the Washington Threat Consensus 33
jacques E. C. Hymans
4. Can Tyrants be Deterred? 47
Betty Glad
5. The United States and Iraq: American Bull in a Middle East
China Shop 65
Clement M Henry
6. Counterterrorism and the Perils of Preemption Problems of
Command and Control 75
David Tucker
Part 2 Domestic Repercussions: Bureaucratic and Legal 91
7. Organizing for Homeland Security in Post-9/11 America 93
David B. Cohen and Alethia Cook
8. The Political and Legal Status of Persons in the War on Terrorism 105
Drew Noble Lanier
Part 3 Broader Impact 121
9. Expansion of the President's War Power 123
Louis Fisher
10. George W Bush and Presidential Leadership: The Un-Hidden Hand
Presidency of George W Bush 141
Michael Genovese
vi I CONTENTS
11. American Public Opinion on Foreign Policy, Pre- and
Post-September 11 149
Ole R. Holsti
12. The UN and the Legal Status of Preemptive and Preventive War 167
Roger Coate
13. Transatlantic Relations at the Turn of the 21st Century 175
Donald J Puchala
Part 4 The American Empire in Perspective 191
14. The Prospects for American Hegemony 193
Robert jervis
15. The Limits of Empire 203
Betty Glad
Biographies ofP articipating Authors 217
Index 221
LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES, AND CHARTS
Figure
11.1. Survey of U.S. role in world affairs 153
Tables
11.1. America's role in the world, 1993-2003 155
11.2. The importance of American foreign policy goals: assessments
by the general public and leaders in the 1998 and 2002 Chicago
Council on Foreign Relations Surveys 156
11.3. The uses of U.S. troops abroad: 2002 CCFR survey 158
11.4. Support for invasion of Iraq with or without support of
allies, 2001-2003 161
Charts
4.1. Capabilities chart 53
15.1. Political culture chart 211
AcKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book would not have been possible without the dedication and skill of three
research assistants at the University of South Carolina-Donna Hedgepeth, Beth
Ewoldsen, and Akram Barghothi. Holly Gonyea Dolan's love, patience, and uncon
ditional support for one of the editors was also crucial to the development of this
volume. Simon Dolan was always there to lend a helping hand.
Throughout this endeavor, we benefited from the wisdom and constructive
commentary of Angela Ledford, Laura R. Woliver, and Roger Handberg. Shahrough
Akhavi, the Middle Eastern expert at the University of South Carolina, suggested
some editorial changes to chapter four "Can Tyrants be Deterred?" and chapter fifteen
"The Limits of Empire." All interpretations, of course, are the authors' own.
As editors, we are extraordinarily fortunate to have worked in collaboration with
thirteen other scholars whose penetrating insights were accompanied by an unusually
cooperative spirit.
Betty Glad,
The University of South Carolina
Chris J Dolan,
The University of Central Florida
INTRODUCTION
Betty Glad and Chris J. Dolan
The September 11 attacks (9/11) on the United States and the war on terrorism have
provided foreign policymakers in the Bush Administration with the firepower to
pursue a more active U.S. foreign policy guided by a first-strike national security
doctrine of preemptive military force and preventive war and grounded on the
notion of self defense. Some contend that President George W Bush's assertions that
the United States possesses first strike powers are necessary measures to hinder terror
ist attacks and obviate the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Others
believe the doctrine will quicken the erosion of multilateralism, base threat assess
ments on ambiguous assessments of imminence and future intentions, and promote
an ultimately self defeating and costly assertion of global supremacy. Striking First
provides some new perspectives on these concerns, tracing the evolution of Bush's
strategic doctrine of striking first, showing how it is shaping U.S. foreign and domes
tic policy in this emerging post-9/11 world. The work that follows is divided into
four sections.
The Political Impact of9/11 and Wars Against Rogue Regimes:
Decision Making and Direct Political Impact
In Part 1, the decision making processes leading to the adoption of the first-strike
doctrine are described and the immediate policy consequences of those choices
explored. In "Foreign Policy on the Offensive: Preemption and Preventive War,"
Chris]. Dolan traces the evolution of President George W Bush's doctrine of striking
first against terrorists and the promotion of offensive warfare, delineates the policy
battles within the administration between the vulcan unilateralists and the guardian
multilateralists over the adoption of those policies, and highlights some the key prob
lems in their implementation. Vice President Cheney has played an especially signif
icant role as an advocate for the vulcans in the Bush foreign policy decision making
process. Some of the reasons for that expanded role are explored by Jack Lechelt in
"The Ascendancy of Vice President Dick Cheney." Though presidential needs have
contributed to an increase in the influence of the vice president since the Carter
Administration, Cheney's role as an independent policy entrepreneur is unique in
U.S. history. As Bush's right-hand man, Cheney is not only an advisor to the presi
dent, but a policy expert and advocate, a builder of public support, and a provider
of liaison to congress and the bureaucracy.
I
X INTRODUCTION
The success of the Bush policy efforts, Jacques Hymans suggests in "The
Mainstream Opposition's Reaction and the Roots of the Washington Threat
Consensus," is due to the mainstream consensus in Washington that the acquisition
of nuclear capabilities by small states characterized as rogue regimes poses a serious
threat to U.S. national security that might have to be dealt with by unilateral mili
tary strikes. Moreover, the possible distinctions between nuclear and biological!
chemical weapons became blurred, muddying American thinking about the nature
and severity of the threat posed. Samples from American media and even academia
show this lack of questioning of the fundamentals of Bush's new policies. Broader
critiques were possible as the coverage of selected mainline British media outlets
suggests.
The assumption that leaders of certain "rogue regimes" are particularly irrational
and cannot be contained by actions short of war is examined by Betty Glad in "Can
Tyrants be Deterred?" The varied ideas and operations of several tyrants, from Hitler
to Idi Amin, indicate that not all tyrants are alike. The threats they pose to the world
order and the ability to contain them depend on the contents of their fantasies or
ideations, their overall military and strategic capacities and ability to see and respond
to clear facts of power. Like most tyrants, Saddam Hussein has manifested the char
acteristics of a malignant narcissist personality. But whatever the nature of the intel
ligence regarding his development ofWMD, it should have been evident back in
2001 that his goals were regional, his pan-Arab ism had little travel power in the
Middle East, his military capabilities limited, his aggression focused on his own
people and two neighboring states.
Wars too, are blunt instruments of policy and likely to have unintended conse
quences. As Clement M. Henry points out in "The U.S. and Iraq: American Bull in
a Middle East China Shop" the American intervention in Iraq may have created new
problems for the United States. Henry contends that the region is particularly sensi
tive to occupation because of its history of colonization at the hands of European
powers, so much so that many in the region find the occupation of Iraq to be a
greater injustice than the crimes committed by the Saddam Hussein regime. In addi
tion, hostility toward the American occupation of an Arab/Muslim nation such as
Iraq is exasperated by America's close ties with Israel and an association with the
Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
The costs of major military interventions, as David Tucker suggests in "Counter
Terrorism and the Perils of Preemption," are apt to contribute to a greater reliance
on more limited special military operations. Traditional notions of how civilian
command and control is exercised in the United States presents challenges for such
operations. His most intriguing and provocative suggestion is that top policymakers
and special operations commanders cooperate with simulations on such operations.
Domestic Repercussions: Bureaucratic and Legal
In Part 2, the book provides analyses of how the war on terrorism has led to major
changes in U.S. bureaucratic structures and legal practices. Prior to 9/11, U.S. the
anti-terrorist efforts of the U.S. government had been incremental and piecemeal as
David B. Cohen and Alethia Cook point out in "Organizing for Homeland Security
