When George Bush began his campaign for president, he couldn’t remember the names of most heads of state.
100 days into his administration, Bush has shown why the names of heads of state didn’t matter to him. He doesn’t talk to them too much. Since he took the oath of office, Bush foreign policy has been disengagement: full of tough rhetoric and mild threat. Where the garrulous Bill Clinton pushed dialogue, in Korea, the Middle East, and China, Bush has instead pushed his weight around. He bombed Iraq, sold arms to Taiwan, provoked Korea and Jiang Ze min, and, just yesterday, announced that National Missile Defense was a “go” no matter what the Russians say.
It’s still early to tell what waves he’ll make, but other countries have felt the sea-change. Even if George W. Bush doesn’t know they exist.
9Hosted by Neal Conan)
Guests:
Robert Watson from the BBC
Rusten Safronov, journalist at Kommersant and BBC Russia
Sulaiman Al-Kahtani, Washington correspondent, Al-Riyadh newspaper, Saudi Arabia.