American Conservatism and the War on Terror

The Al Qaeda 9/11 attacks resulted in the declaration of a War on Terror, and the invasion first of Afghanistan, then of Iraq. Considerable discussion has focused on George W. Bush's decision to depose Saddam Hussein and the War on Terror's effects on relations with the Islamic world and American foreign policy more broadly. The succession of Bush by Barack Obama has not seen the end of this argument. Now, however, commentators have concentrated on how the two administrations have differed on how they conduct US foreign relations, and to what degree Obama is continuing to wage a War on Terror. We are now beginning to see a burgeoning discussion on Obama's foreign policy and the Arab Spring. But some areas continue to be neglected, and the proposed book envisages bringing together discussion of the Bush administration's and the Obama administration's foreign policies in a distinctive way. The Bush administration was importantly influenced by neoconservatives, but American conservatism as a whole did not speak with one voice on the decision to invade Iraq, let alone the failure to overthrow the Iranian regime or for Bush to pursue the notion of democracy promotion more broadly. The Republican Party's defeat in the 2008 presidential election returned conservatives to opposition. But they have continued to advance their views on what America should be doing. This work will be of great interest to students and scholars of US foreign policy, Middle East studies, terrorism and American politics.