Abstract

HARTWIG, Richard E.. Winning is Everything: The Presidency of George W. Bush. CONfines relacion. internaci. ciencia política [online]. 2008, vol.4, n.7, pp.87-101. ISSN 1870-3569.

After the events of 9/11/01, the United States rallied around President George W. Bush. An administration that was initially weak and semi-legitimate came to directly control the executive and legislative branches of government and gradually strengthen its influence over the judiciary. Bush and the Republican majority in Congress attained hegemony domestically as well as internationally. Having acquired the power to ignore the rules, they often proceeded to do so. A semi-idealistic "winning is everything" approach to foreign policy led the United States into a quagmire in Iraq. An unempirical "winning is everything" approach to domestic policy, which often distorts the rules (law, science, and standard economics) and ignores the "referees" (the GAO, the CBO, the IMF), has created potentially disastrous medium and long-term problems for the United States.

Keywords : George W. Bush; U.S. foreign policy; U.S. domestic politics; international rules.

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