George W. Bush on Foreign Policy President of the United States, Former Republican Governor (TX)

Sub-sections under Foreign Policy:
• China
• Internationalism
• Russia
• Other issues under Foreign Policy

Iranian regime must not be permitted to gain nuclear weapons

Fight disease and spread hope in hopeless lands

Made unpopular decisions for great American values

A: I made some decisions that have caused people to not understand the great values of our country. I recognize that taking Saddam out was unpopular. But I made the decision because I thought it was in the right interests of our security. I made some decisions on Israel that's unpopular. I made a decision not to join the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which is where our troops can be brought in front of a judge, an unaccounted judge. I don't think we ought to join that. That was unpopular. And so what I'm telling you is that sometimes in this world you make unpopular decision because you think they're right. We'll continue to reach out. There's 30 nations involved in Iraq; some 40 nations involved in Afghanistan. People love America. Sometimes they don't like the decisions made by America, but I don't think you want a president who tries to become popular and does the wrong thing.

Allies are dealing with Iran and North Korea with America

Free nations will help us achieve the peace we all want

We ought to be working with the African Union

BUSH: I agree with Kerry that we shouldn't be committing troops. We ought to be working with the African Union to do so-precisely what we did in Liberia. We helped stabilize the situation with some troops, and when the African Union came, we moved them out. My hope is that the African Union moves rapidly to help save lives. And fortunately the rainy season will be ending shortly, which will make it easier to get aid there and help the long-suffering people there.

US establishes UN Democracy Fund

Today, I've outlined a broad agenda to advance human dignity, and enhance the security of all of us. The defeat of terror, the protection of human rights, the spread of prosperity, the advance of democracy-these causes, these ideals, call us to great work in the world. Each of us alone can only do so much. Together, we can accomplish so much more.

Allies deserve the respect of all Americans

Foreign affairs is interpersonal leadership, not knowledge

With Bush, Rice said, "The worst thing you can do is tell him you're going to do something and then not do it." The next worst thing is to waste his time beating around the bush. "He is very straightforward himself and tends to like straightforward people," Rice said. "You don't want to spend a long time constructing a baroque argument for him. I've watched him with many foreign leaders. His best relationship with foreign leaders are when he feels like they are being as straightforward with him as he is with them. He can do that past language barriers. He can sense the body language."

Full transition to democratic Iraq by Jan. 2005

There are five steps in our plan to help Iraq.
1. transfer full sovereignty to a government of Iraqi citizens.
2. establish the stability and security that democracy requires.
3. rebuild that nation's infrastructure.
4. enlist additional international support.
5. free national elections no later than next January.

National Endowment for Democracy in the Middle East

I believe that God has planted in every human heart the desire to live in freedom. And even when that desire is crushed by tyranny for decades, it will rise again. As long as the Middle East remains a place of tyranny and despair and anger, it will continue to produce men and movements that threaten the safety of America and our friends.

So America is pursuing a forward strategy of freedom in the greater Middle East. We will challenge the enemies of reform, confront the allies of terror and expect a higher standard from our friend. I will send you a proposal to double the budget of the National Endowment for Democracy and to focus its new work on the development of free elections and free markets, free press and free labor unions in the Middle East.

Tilt back toward Israel

Vietnam: Trade better for human rights than sanctions

A: I support the trade agreement with Vietnam. I believe expanded trade with Vietnam will help the forces of economic and political reform take root and grow. At the same time, we must make clear to the Vietnamese government that we expect them to cooperate fully with our efforts to obtain the fullest possible accounting of missing servicemen in Vietnam. Like all Americans, I want to see improved human rights, and living and working conditions worldwide. The best way to address these issues is not through unilateral trade sanctions, but through multilateral agreements. The primary goal of our trade policy should be to open markets abroad because the better way to raise living and working standards is to increase trade.

Supported force in Mideast & Balkans, not Haiti & Somalia

Africa’s important but not a priority; no nation-building

BUSH: Africa’s important. And we’ve got to do a lot of work in Africa to promote democracy and trade. It’s an important continent. But there’s got to be priorities. And the Middle East is a priority for a lot of reasons as is Europe and the Far East, and our own hemisphere. Those are my four top priorities should I be the president. It’s not to say we won’t be engaged [in Africa], and working hard to get other nations to come together to prevent atrocity [like in Rwanda]. I thought the best example of handling a [genocide] situation was East Timor when we provided logistical support to the Australians; support that only we can provide. I thought that was a good model. But we can’t be all things to all people in the world. I am worried about over-committing our military around the world. I want to be judicious in its use. I don’t think nation-building missions are worthwhile.

Keep troops in Korea & NATO; not in Haiti & Balkans

I mentioned the Balkans. Haiti is another example. I supported the administration in Colombia. It is in our interests to have a peaceful Colombia. We need to have a military presence in the Korean peninsula not only to keep the peace in the peninsula but to keep regional stability. And we need to keep a presence in NATO. But the use of the military needs to be in our vital interest. The mission needs to be clear and the exit strategy obvious.

Puerto Rico: Back statehood if majority votes for it

Both Bush and Gore have declined to take a position on whether Puerto Rico should participate in the election, noting that the matter is before the courts. Both candidates have identical positions on Puerto Rico, saying they would back statehood if a majority of voters on the island support it. Both campaigns have taken steps to prepare for the possibility of a campaign on the island, signing up volunteers and organizers.

Will keep sanctions against Cuba

US will be a friend to Latin American democracies

Patrol borders, but also invest in Latin America

Bush would:
• Ask Congress for $100 million to provide no-collateral loans to the poor.
• Hire more border patrol agents and reform the Immigration and Naturalization Service to crack down on illegal immigration and drug trafficking.
• Establish an “American Fellows Program” in which young men and women from those nations would be invited to work in the U.S. government.
• Call on Latin American governments to lift barriers of over-regulation that prevent the poor from creating businesses.

Africa: Rally world to help AIDS, but not with US funds

Mexico: Free trade, but with more border patrols

Six-party talks are better than taking on North Korea alone

KERRY: We had inspectors and television cameras in the nuclear reactor in North Korea. Secretary Bill Perry negotiated that under Clinton. And we knew where the fuel rods were. And we knew the limits on their nuclear power. Colin Powell announced one day that we were going to continue the dialog of working with the North Koreans. Bush reversed it publicly while the president of South Korea was here. And the president of South Korea went back to South Korea bewildered and embarrassed because it went against his policy.

The six-party talks will unwind when we have bilateral talks

BUSH: The minute we have bilateral talks, the six-party talks will unwind. That's exactly what Kim Jong Il wants. And by the way, the breach on the agreement was not through plutonium. The breach on the agreement is highly enriched uranium. That's what we caught him doing. That's where he was breaking the agreement. Secondly, Kerry said where he worked to put sanctions on Iran-we've already sanctioned Iran. Finally, we were a party to the convention-to working with Germany, France and Great Britain to send their foreign ministers into Iran.

KERRY: In order for the sanctions to be effective, we should have been working with the British, French and Germans and other countries. That's the difference between Bush and me. Again, Bush sort of slid by the question.

Must have China's leverage on Kim Jong Il

KERRY: Just because Bush says it can't be done, that you'd lose China, doesn't mean it can't be done. I mean, this is Bush who said "There were weapons of mass destruction," said "Mission accomplished," said we could fight the war on the cheap -none of which were true. We could have bilateral talks with Kim Jong Il. And we can get those weapons at the same time as we get China. Because China has an interest in the outcome, too.

Abandoned ambiguity with China to horror of own diplomats

Q: If Taiwan were attacked by China, do we have an obligation to defend the Taiwanese?

A: Yes, we do. And the Chinese must understand that.

Q: With the full force of the American military?

A: Whatever it took to help Taiwan defend herself.

"Strategic ambiguity" was dead. Bush's words uncorked a whole jugful of complaints from allies, commentators, and foreign-policy wisemen. Unprompted by his own administration-and to the horror of much of his own foreign-policy bureaucracy-Bush was informing the Chinese and the world that the fire marshals had returned to duty in East Asia.

Do “whatever it takes” to defend Taiwan, including military

Bush touched off the controversy in a morning TV interview when he was asked if the US would defend Taiwan with the full force of the US military. “Whatever it took to help Taiwan defend herself,” he replied. In later interviews, Bush said military action was “certainly an option,” but he also said that Taiwan should not declare its independence.

The US has long supported a “one China” principle, but has insisted that Taiwan and China resolve their differences peacefully. Bush and his aides said the president’s remarks were not meant to signal a change in policy. Under the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, the US is obligated to provide Taiwan with equipment to defend itself. Whatever else the US might do to defend Taiwan has been left deliberately vague by previous administrations.

Maintain relations with both Taiwan & China

• Would refocus America’s policy in Asia on friends and allies
• Would redefine relationship between China and U.S. as one of competitors, not strategic partners
• Supports ‘one-China’ policy
• Supports the Taiwan Relations Act
• Supports the Taiwan Security Enhancement Act
• Supports China’s & Taiwan’s admission into the WTO

Defend Taiwan if China violates one-China policy

No strategic ambiguity: US will defend Taiwan against China

But Bush said today, “It’s important for the Chinese to understand that if there’s a military action, we will help Taiwan defend itself.” He would not say whether this meant the US would send troops. Bush’s foreign policy advisor said that Bush was moving away from strategic ambiguity partly because Taiwan has become a democracy and partly because the policy has been poorly implemented in the Clinton administration.

China is an American competitor, not a friend

Entrepreneurial China trade differs from totalitarian Cuba

BAUER: You just made the case for withdrawing MFN status from China. Everything that you just said about Cuba applies to China.

BUSH: There is a huge difference between trading with an entrepreneurial class like that which is growing in China and allowing a Castro government to skim capital monies off the top of capital investment.

BAUER: Tell the people rotting in the prisons of China that there’s any difference between Castro’s Cuba & Communist China. There is none.

BUSH: If we turn our back on the entrepreneurial class that is taking wing in China, we’re making a huge mistake.

BAUER: They are using that money for a massive arms buildup that our sons will have to deal with down the road.

China’s taste of freedom encourages capitalism’s growth

BUSH: Gary, I agree with you that forced abortion is abhorrent. And I agree with you when leaders try to snuff out religion. But I think if we turn our back on China and isolate China things will get worse. Imagine if the Internet took hold in China. Imagine how freedom would spread. Our greatest export to the world has been, is and always will be the incredible freedom we understand in America. And that’s why it’s important for us to trade with China to encourage the growth of an entrepreneurial class. It gets that taste of freedom. It gets that breath of freedom in the marketplace.

China: Reaction to espionage was not serious and not enough

Cox Report warrants review of all export controls to China

Kerry wants a global test while I will be resolute

KERRY: I have never suggested a test where we turn over our security to any nation. In fact, I've said the opposite: I will never turn the security of the US over to any nation. No nation will ever have a veto over us. But I think it makes sense that we ought to pass a sort of truth standard. That's how you gain legitimacy with your own people, and that's how you gain legitimacy in the world. But I'll never fail to protect the United States of America.

Won't allow foreigners to make national security decisions

KERRY: The most important thing to relieve the pressure is to recognize that America is strongest when we are working with real alliances, when we are sharing the burdens of the world. I believe the president broke faith to the American people in the way he took this nation to war. I think most Americans in their guts know, that we ought to pass a sort of truth standard.

Other nations are sacrificing with us

KERRY: Countries are leaving the coalition, not joining. Eight countries have left it. If Missouri, just given the number of people from Missouri who are in the military over there today, were a country, it would be the third largest country in the coalition, behind Great Britain and the United States. That's not a grand coalition. Ninety percent of the casualties are American. Ninety percent of the cost is coming out of your pockets. I could do a better job. My plan does a better job. And that's why I'll be a better commander in chief.

Hope we never have to take preemptive military action

Take preemptive action in order to make America secure

BUSH: My attitude is you take preemptive action in order to protect the American people, that you act in order to make this country secure. My opponent talks about me not signing certain treaties. Let me tell you one thing I didn't sign, and I think it shows the difference of our opinion-the difference of opinions. And that is, I wouldn't join the International Criminal Court. It's a body based in The Hague where unaccountable judges and prosecutors can pull our troops or diplomats up for trial.

No “global test”: protect Americans even if unpopular abroad

BUSH: I’m not exactly sure what you mean, "passes the global test." My attitude is you take preemptive action in order to protect the American people, that you act in order to make this country secure. [For example] I wouldn’t join the International Criminal Court. It’s a body based in The Hague where unaccountable judges and prosecutors can pull our troops or diplomats up for trial. I understand that in certain capitals around the world that that wasn’t a popular move. Trying to be popular, in the global sense, if it’s not in our best interest, makes no sense. I’m interested in working with our nations and do a lot of it. But I’m not going to make decisions that I think are wrong for America.

America will never seek a permission slip for self-defense

Bush Doctrine: pre-emptive strikes for US defense

Those who developed the Bush Doctrine- a policy of taking preemptive, unprovoked action against emerging threats-predicted that an impressive US victory in Iraq would intimidate allies and foes alike, making them yield to US interests in other areas. The "neo-conservative" hawks say it is precisely Bush's willingness to go it alone and take preemptive action that has encouraged other countries to seek diplomatic solutions before the US launches a military attack.

Help poor countries around the world

United States returning to UNESCO

As a symbol of our commitment to human dignity, the US will return to UNESCO [United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization]. This organization has been reformed and America will participate fully in its mission to advance human rights and tolerance and learning.

Bush compromises between internationalists and isolationists

Drawing on the advice of Gen. Colin L. Powell, widely viewed as a potential secretary of state in a Bush administration, Bush is far more tentative about committing American troops and rules out their use for what he dismisses as nation building. “There may be some moments when we use our troops as peacekeepers, but not often,” he said in the final presidential debate. In the second debate he suggested a broader philosophical disagreement with Mr. Gore: “I’m not so sure the role of the United States is to go around the world and say, ‘This is the way it’s got to be.’”

Gore, on the other hand, has repeatedly portrayed himself as a man who has come to believe in vigorous American intervention abroad

US should humbly empower other countries, not dictate

BUSH: I’m not sure the role of the United States is to go around the world and say this is the way it’s got to be. I want to empower people. I want to help people help themselves, not have government tell people what to do. I just don’t think it’s the role of the United States to walk into a country and say, we do it this way, so should you. We went into Russia, we said here’s some IMF money. It ended up in Chernomyrdin’s pocket. And yet we played like there was reform. The only people who are going to reform Russia are Russians. I’m not sure where the vice president’s coming from, but I think one way for us to end up being viewed as the ugly American is for us to go around the world saying, we do it this way, so should you. I think the United States must be humble and must be proud and confident of our values, but humble in how we treat nations that are figuring out how to chart their own course.

America should be a humble nation, but project strength

BUSH: They ought to look at us as a country that understands freedom where it doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from that you can succeed. I don’t think they ought to look at us with envy. It really depends upon how [our] nation conducts itself in foreign policy. If we’re an arrogant nation, they’ll resent us. If we’re a humble nation, but strong, they’ll welcome us. Our nation stands alone right now in the world in terms of power. And that’s why we’ve got to be humble and yet project strength in a way that promotes freedom. We’re a freedom-loving nation. If we’re an arrogant nation, they’ll view us that way, but if we’re humble nation, they’ll respect us.

GORE: I agree with that. One of the problems that we have faced in the world is that we are so much more powerful than any single nation has been in relationship to the rest of the world than at any time in history, that there is some resentment of US power.

Vital interests: US or allies threatened; we can win & exit

1. Whether our territory is threatened, our people could be harmed, whether or not our defense alliances are threatened, whether or not our friends in the Middle East are threatened.
2. Whether or not the mission was clear, whether or not it was a clear understanding as to what the mission would be.
3. Whether or not we were prepared and trained to win, whether or not our forces were of high morale and high standing and well-equipped.
4. And finally, whether or not there was an exit strategy.

US troops will never be under UN command

“I say that not facetiously,” Bush continued. “I mean, it’s a chance for the world to come together and discuss and to dialogue.”

Less intervention abroad and unilateral nuclear cuts at home

Bush’s foreign policy experience is minimal. Yet his foreign policy speeches and his circle of advisors both draw from the veil of pragmatic, big-power Republicanism practiced with some skill by his father when he was in the White House. As president, he would:
• seek further increases in the defense budget, and a thorough review of military needs and financing
• supports trying not to intervene abroad, unless this was proved to be in America’s national interest
• would appoint General Colin Powell as secretary of state
• supports acting unilaterally in arms-control negotiations, if necessary
• is inclined to scrap the ABM treaty and build a nuclear shield over the objections of Russia and China
• favors deep unilateral cuts in America’s nuclear stockpile
• opposes the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and Kyoto accords

Reform UN & IMF; strengthen NATO

• Supports payment of dues to the United Nations only if its bureaucracy is reformed and America’s disproportionate share of its costs is reduced
• Would press for reform at international financial institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank, including greater transparency and accountability at these institutions themselves
• Would work to strengthen NATO and America’s other alliances through greater consultation and sustained American leadership

Brokering peace requires diligence and patience

America should speak loudly and carry a big stick

America should act as the leader of the free world

Foreign policy with a touch of iron & a sharpened sword

Continue working with Putin in the future

KERRY: I've had an extraordinary experience of watching up close and personal that transition in Russia, because I was there right after the transformation. I regret what's happened in these past months. And I think it goes beyond just the response to terror. Mr. Putin now controls all the television stations. His political opposition is being put in jail. It's very important to the US, obviously, to have a working relationship that is good. This is a very important country to us. We want a partnership. But we always have to stand up for democracy.

Focus on Russia as part of Europe

And why should Putin not be calm? [In an earlier speech], Bush had offered Putin a much bigger prize than any arms control treaty: full membership in the Western world. "We look forward the day when Russia is fully reformed, fully democratic, and closely bound to the rest of Europe. Russia is part of Europe." In Bush's first six months in office, he had executed the most ambitious reorientation of America's grand strategy since Nixon's time-away from China and toward Russia.

Russia nukes: demand inventory; pay for dismantling

• Work with Russia to achieve verifiable strategic arms reduction and prevent the spread of nuclear weapons
• Press Moscow for an accurate inventory of all Russian nuclear material
• Substantially increase funding for the Nunn-Lugar program in order to dismantle as many of Russia’s nuclear weapons as possible, as quickly as possible

Russia funding: replace IMF loans with $ to people

• Opposes any further IMF loans to Russia
• Redirect American assistance, investment and loans to the Russian people, not to the bank accounts of corrupt officials
• Supports reaching out to a new generation of Russians through educational exchanges and programs to support the rule of law and a civil society

Pressure Russia financially to ease up on Chechnya

• Would support the nations of the Baltics, the Caucasus and Central Asia, along with Ukraine, by promoting regional peace and economic development, and opening links to the wider world
• Withhold international financial assistance from Russia because of the Russian government’s attacks against civilians in Chechnya

Focus on Big Three: Russia, China, & India

In a speech on defense policy, Bush issued awarning: “We must be selective in the use of our military, precisely because America has other great responsibilities that cannot be slighted or compromised.”