National Security Strategy from September 2002

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The United States' National Security Strategy (NSS, also known as the Bush Doctrine ) of September 2002 is part of regularly supplemented and revised reports on the foreign policy national security strategy that are to be submitted to Congress by the US government . The Bush administration's report of September 2002 acquired particular significance due to its content that questions elements of the previous international order. This part of the report, which deals with preventive wars, among other things , is also known as the Bush Doctrine or Wolfowitz Doctrine .

In the March 2006 version of the National Security Strategy, the Bush administration has made no significant changes to the 2002 version .

Basics

The NSS proclaims a “pronounced American internationalism”, to be understood as a contrast to the isolationist politics of earlier decades. Accordingly, the US government not only wants to accept the new international order, but also to shape it decisively and formatively:

  • Security realism : The new international situation after the Cold War should be recognized, terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction should be combated.
  • Classical republican liberalism (after Immanuel Kant ) : Democracy and human rights should be spread around the world.
  • Classic economic liberalism (according to Adam Smith ) : The international expansion of market economy and free trade should be promoted.
  • New institutionalism : The existing system of international cooperation is to be adapted to the new circumstances.

International order

The original Wolfowitz Doctrine saw the maintenance and expansion of US hegemony as the top priority:

“ Our first objective is to prevent the re-emergence of a new rival, either on the territory of the former Soviet Union or elsewhere, that poses a threat on the order of that posed formerly by the Soviet Union. This is a dominant consideration underlying the new regional defense strategy and requires that we endeavor to prevent any hostile power from dominating a region whose resources would, under consolidated control, be sufficient to generate global power. "(German:" Our first goal is to prevent the reappearance of a new rival on the territory of the former Soviet Union or elsewhere who poses a threat [...], as the Soviet Union once did. This is one of the underlying principles of the new regional defense strategy consideration that requires everything to prevent a hostile power from dominating a region whose resources, under consolidated control, would be sufficient to create a world power. ")

Russia and China should therefore be contained above all ( containment policy ):

“ We continue to recognize that collectively the conventional forces of the states formerly comprising the Soviet Union retain the most military potential in all of Eurasia; and we do not dismiss the risks to stability in Europe from a nationalist backlash in Russia or efforts to reincorporate into Russia the newly independent republics of Ukraine , Belarus, and possibly others. [...] We must, however, be mindful that democratic change in Russia is not irreversible, and that despite its current travails, Russia will remain the strongest military power in Eurasia and the only power in the world with the capability of destroying the United States . "

According to its self-image, the US wants to create a balance of power in favor of freedom in the world and fight with allies against "terrorists and despots " who want to upset this balance. To achieve this, the international system is to be reorganized along with the other points above. In this way, the countries of the world should work better together, “compete for peace instead of constantly preparing for war against one another”. According to the NSS, they want to integrate Russia and the People's Republic of China into the Western community. A “global consensus on fundamental principles” is considered realistic.

The partnership with Russia is to be strengthened through support for Russia's accession to the WTO , the fight against terrorism and deepened cooperation in the NATO-Russia Council . The current US government sees the development in China as very positive: it is causing those in power there to take a cooperative course towards the West.

Promotion of democracy and the free market economy

According to the National Security Strategy, the top priority of US foreign policy is building democratic structures, not least to prevent events like September 11th . It is not only poverty that makes people “terrorists”, corrupted state institutions are also the cause. The conditions in the Middle East are endangering peace and structurally unstable. The lack of "modernization" on the part of governments is the main cause of "extremism". A new beginning in these regions is "inevitable".

The Bush administration's NSS suggests that the United States could plan a similar engagement in the Middle East as it did in Europe after World War II ( nation-building ). However, these are not the only problematic countries; many underdeveloped states suffered from poor governance, bureaucracy and corruption . Development aid often ends up in the wrong hands; strategies would have to be developed to prevent this deficiency. The USA announces that it wants to increase its efforts in the area of ​​development aid.

Combating terrorism and "rogue states"

New threats to international security consist of terrorist networks and the spread of new technologies. Terrorist networks and “ rogue states ” should therefore be given more attention. It is much easier than before to get hold of weapons of mass destruction ; the western industrialized countries are exposed to considerable threats. The intended mostly by traditional means ( diplomacy , arms control , multilateral export control , "threat reduction assistance" (assistance in reducing threats) ) can be counteracted. Failed states should be stabilized because they pose the greatest danger. If these means are insufficient to combat the dangers, they should be supplemented by the following:

Reactions

Above all, the planned use of preventive strikes that violate international law was criticized at the NSS . The Bush administration knew how to reinterpret these preventive strikes, which are illegitimate under international law, into preemptive strikes, which are entirely acceptable in the modern development of international law. This approach is justified with the crossing of extremism and weapons of mass destruction, which makes the hitherto rather narrow definition of preventive strikes obsolete. Respectively, the Bush administration argues that international law needs a reform on this point, just as the US is striving for in order to do justice to the new dangers. Many are also of the opinion that the US with the "Bush Doctrine" is only about consolidating its position as (in its own vision) the sole superpower in the world, which is not to be found in the paper literally, but is vehemently underlined in numerous other utterances, especially to the US people.

Dominance in space

In late summer or publicly in October 2006, the US government under George W. Bush also proclaimed supremacy in space as an official doctrine. The National Space Policy , according to the US wants none in the use of space supranational subdue instance, a logical continuation of the unilateralist course of the Bush administration. Those nations which, according to the US American opinion, violate the interests of the United States, should be denied access to space ( see: Space Treaty , Space Weapons ).

See also

On the military-technological basis of the "Bush Doctrine"

literature

Web links

swell

Secondary documents