The Roots of the Bush Doctrine: Power, Nationalism, and Democracy Promotion in U.S. Strategy

According to President George W. Bush, the promotion of democracy abroad is vital to the success of the United Statesi n the war against terrorism. It is also a key objective of the administration’s grand strategy of expanding the political and economic influence of the United Statesinternationally. Jonathan Monten of Georgetown University examines two contending approaches to the long-term promotion of democracy: “exemplarism,” or leadership by example, and “vindicationism,” or the direct application of U.S.power, including the use of coercive force. Whereas exemplarism largely prevailed in the twentieth century, vindicationism has been the preferred approach of the Bush administration. Monten attributes the Bush administration’s activist democracy promotion to two main factors: the expansion of material capabilities, and the presence of a nationalist domestic ideology.