Bush Waves a White Flag

President Bush has surrendered the rationalization that he used for seven years as a fig leaf to cover his limp foreign policy. By removing North Korea from the list of terrorist supporting states and by lifting sanctions imposed on it for decades, Bush put a nail in the coffin of the Neo Con theory. Bush started his misbegotten administration with the Neo Con theory that only democratic states make reliable partners in peace. He embraced Fukuyama's rosy prediction that history was ending as nation after nation was embracing our kind of politics. Bush and company then claimed that they were out to accelerate history by sending the US military, the CIA, and mercenaries to change those regimes that did not rush along. North Korea was at the top of the list of the three regimes to be changed one way or the other.

Now Bush is acting to shore up the North Korean communist totalitarian regime in exchange for its promise to give up its program of producing and selling nuclear arms. He finally, during his waning days, is turning to the sensible position that if a nation is willing to give up its weapons of mass destruction, it should be encouraged, rewarded, and appreciated. (For more arguments in support of this approach, and for more details, see Security First [Yale 2007] here).

The same approach has been applied, with great success but much more reluctantly, in dealing with Libya. Here too, the nefarious regime gave up its support for terrorism and allowed the US and its allies much more than to just inspect its WMD program -- it allowed the program to be shut down and the hardware involved to be shipped out.

None of this entails giving up our soul for more security. We do not have the troops or even the stomach to invade more and more countries in order to change their regimes, and when we try to democratize nations by the use of force, most times we make unholy, bloody mess. We need to leave such changes to the locals and help them, through non-violent means, when they ask for it, as those in Zimbabwe do.

Meanwhile, all I can say about Bush is better very late than never. And now try the same thing in dealing with Iran -- before we get down to blows.

Amitai Etzioni is a professor of International Affairs at The George Washington University and the author of Security First: For a Muscular, Moral Foreign Policy. www.securityfirstbook.com. To contact him, write [e-mail]

Comments

[outnow]

John Bolton will just have to go it alone of Fox News. He wants to attack every country simultaneously.

[TexasDem0]

The best thing that can be said about neo-con theories is that they are the playground fantasies of school yard bullies.

[bronceye]

The neoconman economic theory took ahit with the stimulus packets, also. What would have happened to the economy if he had given $600 to each millionair and billionair? Yes, the neoconman view is skewed and they know it. Without the neoconman philosophy, we had peace and prosperity. Bush is trying to inject some reason and sanity to give him a better legacy-too late. The good thing is, he has made a mockery of his previous 7 yrs., himself. Hooray beer.

[arvay]

I suspect China had a great deal to do with producing this result, they certainly have the economic leverage to trim both North Korean and American feistiness. In historical perspective, maybe this is the start of the Middle Kingdom tidying up messes the barbarians have created everywhere.

As you say, this weakens the arguments of those who want a war with Iran (an insane idea at best, but good for posturing). There are times when we can permit ourselves a bit of optimism.

[tompoe]

Sounds like we're getting closer to where we were at when Bush took over. Lost 8 years, but, hey, it could have been worse. I suspect Bush is looking everywhere for support when he and the other war criminals are brought before the World Criminal Court.

[Cathexis]

I am surprised to see Bush do something sane, rather than spout his usual self-destructive Cowboy rhetoric.

Amazing how when he takes courses of action opposite his swaggering Neocon talk, he makes progress ... you'd think the GOP would take note. But then again, they'd rather do it their way than be effective.

[jvarga]

It makes you (me) wonder what we're missing in this story :P

[jhamm1]

I knew there was something significant about the "alleged" sighting of that flying pig last week.

[charlietuna11]

in the case of libya, its not terribly difficult to give up something you don't have.