|
|
|
Map of Europe |
Email this citationCIAO DATE: 02/06
"Foreign Policy Is Not What I Came Here to Do" Dissecting Clinton's Foreign Policy-Making: A First Cut
Charles-Philippe David
December 2004
Abstract
Some presidents fit a pattern. But though Clinton does bear comparison with some of his predecessors, he combines elements of several types and defies (for now) definitive categorization.
At first, Clinton seemed to emulate the Warren Harding persona. His determination to focus "like a laser beam" on the economy made it clear that his administration would be all about domestic issues; foreign policy would not be the priority. In fact, Clinton worried that he would have to spend too much time on foreign policy, which he did not want. In this sense, Clinton began his presidency with the same mindset as Woodrow Wilson, who remarked before his inauguration in 1913 that "it would be an irony of fate if my administration had to deal chiefly with foreign affairs", but in neither case could foreign policy be relegated to the periphery. In a sense, the few ideals that Clinton espoused during his 1992 campaign (such as "assertive multilateralism") were Wilsonian but they proved to be short-lived. This president was reluctant to get involved, and as a result his foreign policy and his decision-making drifted.
