Donald E. Nuechterlein examines George W. Bush’s transformation of American foreign policy and the repercussions for the future. Defiant Superpower recounts how the Bush administration’s bold actions in response to September 11, 2001, toppled the Taliban and displayed American strength.
But by 2002, much of the world, including US allies, had become alarmed by American assertiveness, particularly Bush’s proclamation that America would pursue preventative wars to eliminate future threats. The divergence of national interests between the United States and old allies became acute in early 2003 when Germany and France openly rejected U.S. plans to invade Iraq and bring about regime change. While the Bush administration’s defiant and unilateralist policies initially seemed to empower the United States to pursue its national interests, the pitfalls of this new American hegemony became apparent.
Occupying Iraq and engaging in a global "war on terror" were costly, in both human and economic terms, and the United States would benefit from broad-based international cooperation. Defiant Superpower offers a 2004 critique of US foreign policy and suggests how policymakers should recognize the limits of the new hegemony in order to determine America’s realistic national interests.
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