Crusading Realism: The Bush Doctrine and American Core Values After 9/11 [Paperback]

Lamont Colucci (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 076184130X | ISBN-13: 978-0761841302 | Publication Date: June 27, 2008

Crusading Realism discusses the presidential dominance of American foreign policy and the religiosity and leadership style of President George W. Bush. Contrasting the post-9/11 Bush administration with its earlier incarnation and with that of its immediate predecessor, the development of a distinctive policy position founded on pre-emption, prevention, primacy, and the promotion of democracy is examined. The emergence of the Bush Doctrine from 2001-2003 is analyzed in relation to four distinct phases: its genesis, initial development, further evolution, and maturation. The Bush Doctrine in this period culminates in the decision to invade Iraq in the light of the heightened sense of threat occasioned by a 'toxic nexus' of trans-national terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and rogue states. The standard accounts of neo-conservative coup are re-assessed and dismissed. Attempts to characterize the Bush Doctrine in terms of Realism, Idealism or other theories of international relations are considered, and the concept of Crusading Realism returns America to its political roots in the idea of natural law, the American Revolution, and the foundation of the Republic.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is a well-written and thoroughly researched book....Those who really want to study the roots of American foreign policy and learn about the dynamic tensions between the realists and idealists who formed it, will find it a worthy investment of their time. (The Washington Times, November 2008 )

A deft and scholarly explanation of international affairs in a post 9/11 world. (The Midwest Book Review, October 2008 )

About the Author

Lamont Colucci is professor of international relations and national security at Ripon College.

Product Details

• Paperback: 266 pages
• Publisher: University Press Of America (June 27, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076184130X
• ISBN-13: 978-0761841302
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #815,688 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative and Interesting Read, March 19, 2009

By 

Tyler D. Otts (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Crusading Realism: The Bush Doctrine and American Core Values After 9/11 (Paperback)

Crusading Realism takes an in depth look at the Bush Doctrine. Dr. Colucci dives into the controversial aspects of the Bush Doctrine and explains how and why the Bush administration formed their policies. With great detail, Colucci describes the four pillars of the Bush Doctrine (Prevention, Preemption, Democracy Promotion, and Primacy).

Crusading Realism sets out to explain what so many in the American media do not understand. Most American media outlets label the Bush Doctrine as a confused mess that "screwed" up the Middle East. Networks tend to label the Bush Doctrine as "Big Oil" and Neoconservative conspiracy in the Middle East. By reading Crusading Realism, you the reader, will soon understand how misguided the media really is on the Bush Doctrine. You will also begin to understand how little the media has even studied the doctrine.

The author also discusses the terrorism issue before President George W. Bush. Under Bill Clinton we learn that terrorism was a law enforcement issue and was not taken as seriously as it should have been. Dr. Colucci explains that after 9/11 George W Bush made vast changes with US policy domestically and abroad which parted ways with old policies.

Colucci also goes into detail of how the Bush administration was able to combine Realism and Idealism to form a strong strategy abroad. The author explains at the core of all these doctrine policies are the core ideals of the American Revolution and that those ideals really drove President Bush. Democracy promotion was key in President Bush's idealism.

Crusading Realism presents a historical, accurate, account of the evolution of the Bush Doctrine in a professional, informational way. There are no talking points in this book and the information is all factually based on interviews with key players of the Bush Administration.

A must read for anyone who wants to truly understand the Bush Doctrine.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The definitive work on the Bush Doctrine, August 11, 2008

By 

S. Cibarich "Former Lit Major" (Wi) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crusading Realism: The Bush Doctrine and American Core Values After 9/11 (Paperback)

As a student of politics and philosophy, I have been waiting for the definitive book on the "whys" of the Iraq War to come out. Professor Colucci's Crusading Realism is that book.

9/11 changed America's fundamental philosophy on National Security and gave us the Bush Doctrine, but what does that mean in practical terms? Was this simply 'blood for oil,' or was there something deeper and more meaningful at work? Colucci's thesis is that there was something much deeper and thoughtful at work than the popular media has been telling us.

Professor Colucci's work is incredibly detailed, researched, cited, and is based on direct interviews wherever possible. The book makes two assertions: the 9/11 attacks weren't the 'beginning' of the Islamo-fascist movement, and also neither was the Bush Doctrine something new. Rather, Colucci asserts that it was something very old: a return to a foreign policy based on the beliefs of the Founders of the country and their notion of Natural Law.

Crusading Realism is a landmark achievement, and represents something you literally won't find anywhere else: a scholarly, yet still engaging look at the philosophy behind the Bush Doctrine. If you are interested in the facts surrounding what those inside the administration were thinking and doing, you should pick up this book, no matter what your opinion on the war.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Read!, October 9, 2008

By 

Nicholas Krueger (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Crusading Realism: The Bush Doctrine and American Core Values After 9/11 (Paperback)

Read even a few media reports and watch a few TV interviews, and you will soon see that even most of America's leading thinkers, writers, and political leaders just don't get it. During the recent weeks leading up to the upcoming 2008 Presidential election, a glaring problem has become increasingly obvious: nobody even knows what to call America's 21st century foreign policy. Some (wrongly) consider it a disastrous and confused mystery; some consider it to be some natural and predictable consequence of previous policies; still others consider it evidence of a "neo-conservative" agenda or a conspiracy of "big oil."

Dr. Colucci is, to my knowledge, the only authority to date to clearly rectify this problem of confusion, ignorance, and misunderstanding. Having completed exhaustive research on the subject, including many interviews with authors of these policies and with various policymakers and experts who defined this decade and the last, Dr. Colucci has named the defining strategy of the Bush presidency "Crusading Realism."

To students of international relations, foreign policy, and world history in general, the "realism" part is not unclear. Realism, to perhaps overly simplify, recognizes the duty and responsibility of a national leader to his own citizens. The U.S. president has the Constitutional obligation to defend and promote the interests of America. In the case of the Bush presidency, myriad speeches and publications from the White House have indicated the administration's resolve to guard every American physically from the dangers of the modern world, as well as the defense and promotion of other American interests across the globe.

However, the "crusading" part is not as widely understood. As Dr. Colucci demonstrates in far greater detail than I can, the Bush administration believes that a strictly defensive posture against such dangerous ideologies as militant Islam is naively insufficient to protect those aforementioned vital and national interests. September 11, 2001 proved it and was the main catalyst for the development of crusading realism. Thus, Bush and his foreign policy team sought ways of not only winning tactical engagements against foreign enemies and preserving the United States' prime geopolitical position, but they also sought ways to proactively encourage and promote the spread of human freedom in faraway lands. President Bush's firm belief in what he often calls the "non-negotiable demands of human dignity" demands such action, even if the duty to preserve America -- and Americanism, the culture and glue that give America a fabric of national unity and national identity -- did not now demand such policy change.

Dr. Colucci lays out a convincing case that the Bush Doctrine is, in fact, a return to the very core principles of the American Revolution. For the same reasons that early American colonists were justified in creating a "novus ordo seclorum" (if your Latin is a little rusty, that's a "new order for the ages") in the 18th century; for the same reasons that another generation of Americans spilled its own blood at Gettysburg in the 19th century; and for the same reasons that yet more young Americans were needed to give the greatest sacrifice in defense of freedom against the Nazis in the 20th century, so now the Bush Doctrine plots a course of action in defense of freedom and the natural rights of man and in active opposition to the forces of evil that threaten citizens of the 21st century.

But, don't take my word for it! Scholarly yet easy-to-swallow for any American citizen, this book is an absolutely necessary addition to the collection of any American patriot.