On Thu, 27 May 2004 19:54:48 GMT,
(John S. Shinal) wrote:

You may like this link to a most scholarly and unbiased
analysis of US policy, where the various citizen viewpoints came from,
how they contrast to European policy (and why), the Constitutional
aspect of it, pragmatism, idealism, neoconservatism (what it's
intended to mean, what it actually represents and why), liberalism
(what it used to mean and what it means today), conspiracy theories,
and all the rest.

It's about the most interesting thing politically that I have
read in ten years. Well thought out, unslanted, and guaranteed to make
you think, no matter what side your views are on.

Sorry about the formatting, it's just quickie HTML.

http://jshinal.tripod.com/analysis_21c_USPolicy.html

That is, indeed, an excellent overview of US foreign policy. It
condenses the entire introductory course of International Relations
down into a single readable newspaper article. The insights into
America's world view are little short of profound.

I would only note, however, that when applied to international
relations, the terms liberal and conservative take on a different
meaning than they do when applied to the American political parties
and their respective ideological positions.

In IR, the term "liberal" is usually applied to a moralistic view of
the interactions between nations. It is the view that nations are
"moral" players and there are good guys and bad guys. We, the US,
usually like to consider ourselves as the good guys.

The term "conservative" in IR is the more modern "realpolitik" view
that nations act strictly to serve their national self-interest and
they are essentially amoral. Machiavellian, if you will.

Clearly the shift (a fairly minor one according to the article) of the
Bush administration is to the moralist view--arguably Wilsonian, and
away from the Morganthau/Kissinger realpolitik self-interest
perspective. Strangely enough, in IR terms, that makes Bush a liberal!



Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8