Table of Contents

Acknowledgements     viii
Introduction: Temptations of Power     ix
Grappling with the New World: Concepts and Realities     1
September 11 2001 and its aftermath     2
Concepts and realities     4
Concepts in international relations     6
Realities in international relations     9
The security debate     10
Limited sovereignty     12
International intervention     13
The old and new security dilemmas     14
Ideologies, Ideas and Political Slogans in the Formation of George W. Bush's Foreign Policy     16
A clash of civilizations     18
America as empire     22
The neoconservatives     28
From commentators and analysts to George W. Bush     36
The United States, Europe and the World     44
From victim to pariah     44
The temptation of Iraq     45
The anti-Iraq coalition, 2003     49
Why Europeans often disagreed with the United States     51
The growth of US military power     53
The end of the balance of power?     55
The United States' unipolar moment     57
New Challenges to US Hegemony: China and the Muslim World     64
The challenge from China     65
The Muslim challenge     71
Military Power and Democratic Transition     84
The uses and abuses of military power     85
Military power and democracy     89
Coalition-building or unilateral action?     93
The importance of restraint     96
The Temptation of Preventive War     102
Modern precedents for pre-emptive and preventive wars     105
Israel's preventive war precedents in the Middle East     106
The United States creeps toward pre-emptive and preventive strategies     108
The US decision to launch preventive war     113
Fire discipline     113
Precision attacks     115
Preventive war and the 'axis of evil'     117
Advantages and disadvantages of preventive war     119
Misunderstanding Terrorism: The Sword     123
The new face of conflict     123
Terrorism as a concept     126
New and old terrorism     127
Al-Qaeda, affiliates, regional jihadists and copycats     130
Anti-terrorist strategies     134
Bush's moment: war without purpose     136
Homeland (In)Security: The Shield      139
Civil liberties     143
The Patriot Act     144
Enemy combatants     147
Prison abuses     151
Justice or security?     152
The Department of Homeland Security     154
Border controls     155
The Intelligence agencies     157
Nuclear terrorism     159
Financial costs     163
Homeland insecurities     164
Security or insecurity?     165
Creating Quagmires: Winning the Wars, Losing the Peace     168
Context and war in Afghanistan     169
Context and war in Iraq     171
Justifications and denunciations of the wars     173
Consequences of the wars     176
Afghanistan since the war     177
Iraq since the war     178
Constitutional developments in Iraq     181
Staying power and counter-insurgency     184
Ending insurgencies     185
Quagmires     188
The Burden of Power     196
Bibliography     204
Index     213