With his photo ops in the British Museum and the Cabinet War Rooms in London, George W. had planned to pitch the story of his second European trip as president more positively. Instead the headlines were dominated by his denials that he is an isolationist. Responding to charges by Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle who accused the administration of isolating the U.S. from the world, Bush said, “We are not retreating within our borders.”
True enough, the U.S. is not keeping out of global affairs. Rather it is simply doing what it wants around the world regardless of world opinion, impacts outside our borders, and the conventions of multilateral governance. Bush put it plainly: “I will continue to stand for what I think is right for our country and the world.”
If the Democrats want to attack U.S. foreign policy, they should get the terms right. While there is an isolationist streak in the new foreign policy agenda particularly when it comes to addressing humanitarian concerns the path that the Bush administration is taking is decidedly unilateralist. It’s the “U” word not the “I” word that is the glaring sin of the administration’s approach to global affairs.
But Democrats like Daschle would rather take pot shots that create their own photo ops than forthrightly address what’s really going on with U.S. Foreign policy. Talking about America’s unveiled unilateralism is problematic, though, for the Democrats or anyone else for two reasons: one, because the level of national discourse about U.S. Foreign policy is at such an abysmally low level that terms like unilateralism and multilateralism carry little meaning for the public or the media (or policymakers, for that matter); and two, because the Democrats themselves are not committed multilateralists. In their heart of hearts, the Democrats like the Republicans believe that the U.S. has the god-ordained right to assert its power the way it sees fit regardless of international rules, decisions, conventions.
The Bush administration does not represent the head-in-the-sand isolationist wing of the Republican Party. Their global economy policy calls for increasingly integrated markets. Their new energy policy calls for an aggressive expansion of U.S. energy companies to all corners of the globe no matter the dicey political context (from Nigeria to the Caspian region). Their military policy is not only about homeland defense but also about bolstering the U.S.-Japan military and NATO alliances, bombing Iraq, and maintaining military aid to Israel. Unilateralism not isolationism is the operating principle in violating the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty, pulling out of the Kyoto Protocol, withdrawing executive support for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, dismissing the International Criminal Court, etc, etc.
Sure it’s nice to see George W. squirming in the global affairs arena. But let’s get the critique right.
Tom Barry (tom@irc-online.org) is codirector of Foreign Policy In Focus and a senior analyst at the Interhemispheric Resource Center.
###
