They were against NAFTA and free trade, since workers would lose jobs at home, but were heartened by Bush's decisions to not extend war into Baghdad and to remove Saddam Hussein from power.
Bill Clinton was Bush's successor and rode into power upon the back of his promises to balance the federal budget and reduce the deficit, which he accomplished through raising taxes and cutting the defense budget. He paid little attention to foreign policy and Colin Powell, his chairman of the Joint Chiefs, succeeded in undermining Clinton's validity, as did a few of the other foreign policy staff. Clinton proved poor in matters of foreign policy and paid little attention to the advice of his foreign policy team.
A go along with Warren Cohen's assessment of George Walker Bush, who is the subject of his most stringent criticism. Called a Vulcan (the god of Fire), Bush acted in ignorance of foreign affairs in general; yet he sought to inspire confidence by putting into place the best and the worst of his father's advisors. George W. Bush made it his goal to (1)ensure Russia and Communism will never again equal...
control. The resulting mix of ignorance and aggression has led the nation to the present crisis. The leaders of his father's team, "James Baker, Brent Scowcroft and Larry Eagle-burger" have consistently opposed the younger Bush's policies. He lost whatever had been gained in peace strategies between Israel and the Palestinians. He used 9-11 to turn what everyone expected to simply be a temporary invasion to overthrow a tyrant into an extended war. The 9-11 attack on the U.S. has had the result of revealing U.S. weaknesses, as well as fueling the fears of those who have resisted draw downs of defense, in effect encouraging the war-mongers. As a result of George W. Bush's extended and ill-advised response to 9-11, other nations now see the U.S. As a less wise, less admirable superpower, and in some instances as a power they want to see defeated.
Cohen, Warren I. America's Failing Empire. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. 2005.
