Direction of Diplomatic Policy in the U.S.

Will the direction of the U.S. foreign policy be redirected?

Since the November 7 mid-term election, it is said that the Bush administration has been turning from “power diplomacy” to the diplomatic policy of “Father Bush.”

Newsweek said, “Long-time friends of Bush Sr. are helping the administration. The apparent triumph of pragmatism over ideology on Iraq was welcome news.”

The New York Times stated, “This means a shift to the diplomatic policy of the Republican Party in the early days.”

Some even said, “It represents a turn from neo-con to father-con.”

This remark was stated since Secretary of Defense-designate Robert Gates served as a deputy for two years under pragmatic Brent Scowcroft, former national security advisor to President George W. H. Bush, the current president’s father.

In addition, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is a dove who has worked in charge of Russia under Deputy National Security Advisor Gates. Some predict that the Department of State will lead the foreign affairs decision-making with the support of moderates in the Department of Defense and the National Security Council.

Since Gates participated in 2004 in the research team on the Iranian nuclear issue led by Zbigniew Brzezinski, former national security advisor to the White House, and advocated direct talks with Iran, he will support the direct talks with North Korea in solving the nuclear issue, some say.

However, there are opposing views. Citing the U.S. invasion of Panama when he used force to arrest Manuel Noriega, the Panamanian general, in 1989 under Bush Sr., some argue it is too early to predict significant change in foreign affairs.

James Mann, the author of “Rise of Vulcans,” wrote in his recent column, “In 1989, when the administration was debating on how to deal with Mikhail Gorbachev, the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Deputy National Security Advisor Gates was at the forefront of the hardliners. Then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney strongly supported him. The resignation of the secretary of defense means only the acknowledgement that something was wrong with the Iraq policy, nothing more and nothing less.”

“My son calls his mother every day to say hello,” said former President George H.W. Bush, denying the rumor that the relationship of Bush Sr. and President Bush is strained. Yet on the diplomatic front, especially on Iraq, they have shown differing views.

In particular, neo-cons have criticized, “During the first Persian Gulf War in 1991, the Kurds were executed after the war that ended without toppling Saddam’s regime. Afterwards, the U.S. stationed its soldiers in Saudi Arabia to keep the regime in control, which provided a useful excuse to denounce foreign power to Islamic fundamentalists who drove many young people into terrorism.”

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