Introduction
The attack on September 11 was the worst on American soil since Pearl Harbor and had a similar effect of drawing the United States into a pivotal conflict. While the need to end violent extremism was justifiable and urgent thus precipitating the invasion of Afghanistan and the toppling of the Taliban government, the foreign policy approach taken by the Bush administration was questionable and has left the successor, Barack Obama grappling with challenges of handling American foreign policy.
The Bush legacy
The war on terror took center stage of American foreign policy in the Bush administration arguably condemning other issues to second and subsequent places in terms of importance. While this may be justified as a means of reducing the risk of attack to the United States, the ‘either you are with us, or against us’ stance that George Bush took regarding the participation and support of this war effectively alienated many of US allies who did not want to be drawn into any form of conflict.
Very important global issues that the United States had a major stake in were reduced in importance compared to the global terror policy; most of these had no relation whatsoever to the security of the US soil; however, their outcome had a potential and major impact on the wellbeing of the global citizenry; some include the world economy and the global climate change. The impact of ignoring ills on the global economy is being felt now.
The Bush administration narrowed the interest of the United States to the elimination of the ‘axis of evil’. This may have had the effect of affecting the standing of the US in international relations.
Challenges to the new administration
Traditionally, American foreign policy is driven by two goals, to advance the interest of the United States abroad and to protect and promote freedom and democracy abroad. The administration has the unenviable task of rebuilding the damage that the Bush’s war caused on the image of the US abroad.
Among the most urgent of these tasks is to revive other tools of pursuing these interests than military action; a critical look at the war on terror shows that Bush failed to utilize some alternatives at his disposal such as diplomacy, education, and economics in favor of military action. The administration has to scrub the image of the US abroad as that of a militaristic brute.
The administration also has the task of rebuilding relationships that were steamrolled in the advent of invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq; particularly in Europe. This involves an abandonment of the partisan approach of involvement in any form of conflict.
The biggest challenge for the new administration however still remains the threat of terrorism. Since the new president took office, there has been at least one major terrorist attack; despite the fact this attack was not on American soil (in India), it goes to show that terrorism is still alive and if let to thrive unchecked, it might still spill over to the US. Additionally, despite the fact that the Taliban government was toppled, militancy is still widely prevalent in parts of Afghanistan; to make the matter worse, huge swathes of the Pakistani tribal zones are being controlled by the Taliban who moved there to escape the US invasion.
The capacity of the unstable Pakistani government to stave off a Taliban takeover of the country is in question; while the counterinsurgency operations have been ineffective, the nightmare scenario is a Taliban government in Islamabad with controlling of the country’s nuclear arsenal and pursuing the goals of the al-Qaeda.
Conclusion
The major challenge now is to continue with the war while avoiding the pitfalls that the Bush government fell into. The president has to balance maintaining the image of strength while avoiding looking like a militaristic imperialist.