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| Author: | Eben Kaplan, Associate Editor |
|---|
Updated: October 31, 2006
The war in Iraq, following close on the heels of the devastating terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, have thrust U.S. foreign policy into the thick of the national political dialog. Within America's two major political parties, there is no longer the kind of bipartisan foreign policy consensus that characterized much of the Cold War period. But experts suggest there are distinct tendencies within each party, and some which straddle party lines. In an effort to help define the debate in this mid-term election year, here is a guide to the major foreign policy tendencies in the United States today:
The most complete expression of the doctrine favored by the party in power might be the National Security Strategy of the United States of America, a document made public in September 2002 and frequently referred to in short hand as the doctrine of "preemptive attack." Bush administration actions following the 9/11 attacks clearly draw heavily from this document, drafted while Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was running the National Security Council. The most controversial aspect of the policy is contained in Section V, which expresses the idea that "we must be prepared to stop rogue states and their terrorist clients before they are able to threaten or use weapons of mass destruction against the United States and our allies and friends." That said, within the president's party, there are important schools of thought that embrace or dissent from this concept in varying degrees. Here are the GOP's main factions:
Because the Democratic Party has not been in power since 2000, Democrats have had little opportunity to craft foreign policy in recent years. Although many Democrats seem uneasy with the doctrine of preemption outlined by George W. Bush's administration, the party has done a poor job of clearly outlining an alternative. Following the 2004 presidential election, many experts accused the Democratic party of being directionless. The 2006 mid-term elections and the 2008 presidential race will provide a pair of opportunities for leading Democrats to share their foreign policy vision with the American people. Here are the schools of thought they will draw upon:
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