Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Bush the transnationalist: a reappraisal of the unilateralist impulse in US foreign policy, 2001–2009

Ryan, Maria

Authors

MARIA RYAN maria.ryan@nottingham.ac.uk
Associate Professor



Abstract

This article challenges the common characterisation of George W. Bush’s foreign policy as “unilateral.” It argues that the Bush administration developed a new post-9/11 understanding of terrorism as a transnational, networked phenomenon shaped by the forces of globalisation. This led to a new strategic emphasis on bi- and multilateral security co-operation and counterterrorism operations, especially outside of Afghanistan and Iraq, driven by the perceived need to counter a transnational security challenge present in multiple locations. This (flawed) attempt to engage with transnational security challenges supplemented the existing internationalist pillar of the Bush administration’s foreign policy. Highlighting the transnational realm of international relations and the ways in which the Bush administration was able to co-opt other states to tackle perceived transnational challenges also shows the high importance the administration attached to concerted action even as it frequented eschewed institutional multilateralism.

Citation

Ryan, M. (2017). Bush the transnationalist: a reappraisal of the unilateralist impulse in US foreign policy, 2001–2009. International Politics, 54(5), 561-582. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41311-017-0054-8

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Apr 15, 2017
Online Publication Date May 31, 2017
Publication Date 2017-09
Deposit Date Feb 21, 2018
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal International Politics
Print ISSN 1384-5748
Electronic ISSN 1740-3898
Publisher Palgrave Macmillan
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 54
Issue 5
Pages 561-582
DOI https://doi.org/10.1057/s41311-017-0054-8
Keywords Bush, transnationalism, strategy, multilateralism, bilateralism, security co-operation
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/885806
Publisher URL https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057%2Fs41311-017-0054-8
Additional Information This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in International Politics. The definitive publisher-authenticated version Ryan, M. Int Polit (2017) 54: 561. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41311-017-0054-8 is available online at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057%2Fs41311-017-0054-8

Files





You might also like



Downloadable Citations