These days, it seems that the Bush administration's foreign policy is less Henry Kissinger and more Fred Durst, as the United States' actions this summer have followed the Limp Bizkit frontman's popular rant: 'It's my way'my way or the highway.'
Indeed, that's the soundtrack to President Bush's declaration last week from his Texas ranch: 'We will withdraw from the [Anti-Ballistic Missile] treaty on our timetable.' Bush knows full well that Russian President Vladimir Putin, wary of U.S. missile defense plans, has rejected a joint withdrawal from the cornerstone 1972 treaty. But Bush's way is the missile shield, and any other way, quite frankly, is the highway. None of this is surprising, however, as America has been singing its own song all summer long:
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- Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was executed before his fellow Americans June 11. Europeans stood aghast, criticizing capital punishment as out of line with the morality of free and democratic nations. They're right.
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- Then came that remarkable stretch in July. At a two-week U. N. conference ending July 20, the United States single-handedly forced other countries to give up a more stringent plan to curb small-arms trafficking. Because of American resistance to limiting small-weapons sales, peeved delegates settled on a watered-down plan that provides little hope in stemming small arms proliferation.
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- Shortly after, July 25, U.S. officials rejected a draft accord on ensuring compliance with the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention, arguing the plan compromises national security. The rejection sapped the momentum from nearly seven years of negotiations on how to implement the biological weapons ban.
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- In Bonn, Germany, during that same week in July, after feverish negotiations about 180 nations reached an agreement to save the notorious Kyoto Protocol on reducing greenhouse gases. The treaty must be ratified by 55 nations responsible for 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and without Uncle Sam (Bush abandoned ship in March); Japan's participation becomes essential. Recently, Tokyo indicated it will sign on.
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- And now, with the U.N. conference on racism coming up, the world is reminded of America's petulance last month when the White House threatened to boycott the historic meeting if certain issues were discussed, like slavery reparations.
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Even if the Bushies did make all the right moves this summer, the global community nevertheless saw an America that's dangerously playing its own game (perhaps American football?). It's ironic that Bush's missile shield is touted as a defense against terrorists and rogue nations. Based on recent behavior, it's not hard to figure out which one the world points to as the 'rogue nation.'
