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