The New Bush Administration and the UN: A Strategy of Great Power Consensus?

While the presidency of George W. Bush is still at an early stage, it is already clear what direction his Secretary of State, Colin Powell, will be trying to pursue in policy toward the United Nations. Powell will be using the UN as a forum for building great-power consensus in order to deal with pressing international security concerns. While this is becoming clear in Bush's policies toward the Balkans, it is paramount in the Bush approach to sanctions against Iraq. What is uncertain, however, is how this UN policy can comfortably coexist with the more confrontational security policies toward Russia followed by other Bush team players. […]

View full text (PDF)