The Imperial Temptation

In "The Imperial Temptation" two foreign policy experts warn that America has made a Faustian bargain in its quest for the leadership of a "new world order". In its attempts to address the challenges posed by new global realities, the Bush administration, so argues "The Imperial Temptation", has betrayed the fundamental ideals on which this country was founded. Criticizing the all-out military assault on Iraq as a disproportionate and inhumane response to the crisis, Tucker and Hendrickson argue that President Bush seized on the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait to crystallize its vision of a "new world order" that would reclaim America's position of world leadership. But, in choosing to wage war against Iraq when another alternative was available, the authors write, Bush made the use of force the centrepiece of his vision of world order. As a result, the authors argue that America has fastened on a formula that "allows us to go to war with far greater precipitancy than we otherwise might while simultaneously allowing us to walk away from the ruin we create without feeling a commensurate sense of responsibility".
By leaving Iraq in chaos, America has succumbed to an "imperial temptation" without "discharging the classic duties of imperial rule". "The Imperial Temptation" aims to make an important - and what may be viewed as controversial - contribution to the national debate over the future of US foreign policy and offers an examination of the classic ideas underlying American diplomacy and their relation to the nation's historic purpose.