The impact of the Sept. 11 attack on New York and Washington is not, and will not be, limited to the creation of an international coalition to fight terrorism. According to observers, it has forced the United States to take a second — and also a third — look at some of the philosophies that had defined the fundamental principles of the foreign policy under the Bush administration.
First to be dropped, even without much discussion, was the “only America matters” approach to international problems that had exasperated most of the world, including Europe. Giving up what has been called a go-it-alone policy, President Bush met with a host of international leaders in his effort to create as wide a coalition as possible. Thus, he won support from countries previously rattled by actions such as pulling out of the Kyoto protocol or building a missile defense system, which were seen as putting US interests above those of the rest of the world. Looking beyond Europe, he has also reshaped relationships with other countries. Pakistan, which has had sanctions imposed on it after its nuclear tests and military coup, has been drawn into the new coalition as a key partner in the fight against terrorism. Washington has eased sanctions on it, after winning support from President Pervez Musharraf.
Another significant shift is in the approach to the Middle East crisis. The Bush administration’s policy from the very beginning was one of disengagement from the peace efforts. Coming as it did after his predecessor’s total engagement, this approach had unsettled not only the parties directly involved, but also all other world leaders. There was widespread fear that, allowed to spin out of control, it could become a shooting war, the consequences of which could not be predicted. Marking a big change from the “let them have peace first” and “Arafat should control violence” refrain, the United States pressured Israel and the Palestinians to negotiate a cease-fire to help draw Arab and Islamic states into the coalition.
On Wednesday, the White House endorsed a new Russian peace initiative over Chechnya and urged Chechen rebels to cut ties with “terrorist groups.” This gave a big boost to President Vladimir Putin who has been criticized by Washington in the past for using excessive force against the Chechens.
In a way, analysts suggest tongue-in-cheek, Bush is keeping his word: he had come to office promising a “humble” foreign policy which was later perceived as arrogant. Now, they say, it is truly humble. This effort to be once again a part of the world is a far cry from what one top State Department official earlier this year called an administration policy of “a la carte multilateralism” — picking and choosing issues around which to build shifting coalitions when it is in the national interest.
Perhaps, Ivo Daalder of the Brookings Institution, summed up the change correctly when he said that Bush had turned over a new leaf. “He has basically done what people have told him he should have done in the last eight months. If there’s a global problem you need to build international coalitions, you need to lead that effort, not by insisting that you’re right but by getting people to come along on your side.”
The question is: Will he go back to the old leaf ?
