Editing Bush Doctrine (section)

{{Short description|Foreign policy principles of U.S. president George W. Bush}}
{{For the|the foreign policy of George W. Bush's predecessor and father|Foreign policy of the George H. W. Bush administration}}
[[File:BUSHPC2.jpg|thumb|280px|right|President Bush making remarks in 2006 during a [[press conference]] in the [[White House Rose Garden|Rose Garden]] about [[Iran]]'s nuclear ambitions and discussing [[North Korea]]'s nuclear test]]
{{George W. Bush series}}
The '''Bush Doctrine''' refers to multiple interrelated [[foreign policy]] principles of the 43rd [[President of the United States]], [[George W. Bush]]. These principles include [[unilateralism]], [[preemptive war]], and [[regime change]].

[[Charles Krauthammer]] first used the phrase in June 2001, to describe the Bush administration's "unilaterally withdrawing from the [[Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty|ABM treaty]] and rejecting the [[Kyoto Protocol|Kyoto protocol]]."<ref name="krauthammer2008">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/12/AR2008091202457.html  |title=Charlie Gibson's Gaffe |first=Charles |last=Krauthammer |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=September 13, 2008 |access-date=2012-03-31}} According to Charles Krauthammer, who was the first to use it in June 2001, the phrase has had four distinct meanings, each one succeeding another over the eight years of the George W. Bush presidency:  firstly, unilateralism, i.e., unilaterally withdrawing from the [[Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty]] and rejecting the [[Kyoto Protocol]]; secondly, after 9-11-2001, the "with us or against us" policy on terror; thirdly, a doctrine of pre-emptive war, e.g., Iraq; and fourthly, the idea that the fundamental mission of American foreign policy is to spread democracy throughout the world.</ref> After the [[September 11 attacks]], the phrase described the policy that the U.S. had the right to secure itself against countries that harbor or give aid to terrorist groups, which was used to justify the 2001 [[United States invasion of Afghanistan|invasion of Afghanistan]].<ref name="krauthammer2008"/><ref name=NYT_Weisman_20020413>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/13/opinion/editorial-observer-president-bush-and-the-middle-east-axis-of-ambiguity.html |title=Editorial Observer; President Bush and the Middle East Axis of Ambiguity |first=Steven R. |last=Weisman |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 13, 2002}}</ref> The Bush Doctrine became strongly associated with the Bush administration's decision to [[2003 invasion of Iraq|invade Iraq in 2003]].<ref>{{cite news |title=War policy undone by real war; After Iraq, the 'Bush doctrine' has lost its appeal |last=Polman |first=Dick |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=May 23, 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Why the Bush Doctrine is dead |last=White |first=Hugh |work=The Age |location=Melbourne |date=October 3, 2003}}</ref><ref name="OldWorldOrder">{{cite news|title=Old World Order |last=Traub |first=James |work=The New York Times |date=November 12, 2006}}</ref>

Different pundits have attributed different meanings to the Bush Doctrine. It was used to describe specific policy elements, including a strategy of "preemptive strikes" as a defense against an immediate or perceived future threat to the security of the United States. This policy principle was applied particularly in the [[Middle East]] to counter international terrorist organizations and to justify the invasion of [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}

Generally, the Bush Doctrine was used to indicate a willingness to unilaterally pursue U.S. economic interests.<ref name=Time_Allen_20070502>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1616724,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070504032727/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1616724,00.html |archive-date=May 4, 2007 |title=Edwards Rejects the 'War on Terror' |first=Mike |last=Allen |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=May 2, 2007}}</ref><ref name=NationalReview_Levin_20060816>{{cite journal |url=http://levin.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NzQyNjBmZjA2M2IzMDgzYjI1MWJiNTNjZmFjY2M5YzI= |title=...and another thing: First Things First |first=Mark |last=Levin |author-link=Mark Levin |journal=National Review |date=August 16, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081004112734/http://levin.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NzQyNjBmZjA2M2IzMDgzYjI1MWJiNTNjZmFjY2M5YzI%3D |archive-date=October 4, 2008 }}</ref><ref name=USAtoday_Page_20030317>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/educate/iraq/war7-article.htm |title=Confronting Iraq |first=Susan |last=Page |work=USA Today Education |date=March 17, 2003}}</ref> Some of these policies were codified in a [[United States National Security Council|National Security Council]] text entitled the ''National Security Strategy of the United States'' published on September 20, 2002.<ref name=NSS_September2002>{{cite book|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/nsc/nss/2002/index.html |title=The National Security Strategy of the United States |author=National Security Council |publisher=The White House|date=September 2002 |author-link=United States National Security Council}}</ref>

The phrase "Bush Doctrine" was rarely used by members of the Bush administration. The expression was used at least once, though, by [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[Dick Cheney]], in a June 2003 speech in which he said, "If there is anyone in the world today who doubts the seriousness of the Bush Doctrine, I would urge that person to consider the fate of the [[Taliban]] in [[Islamic Republic of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]], and of [[Saddam Hussein]]'s regime in Iraq."<ref name="Cheney use of term">[https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/id/28921/ Vice President Tells West Point Cadets "Bush Doctrine" Is Serious], ''American Forces Press Service'', June 2, 2003</ref>