| 50-5872 | DS63 | 2012-29586 CIP | | Social & Behavioral Sciences Political Science U.S. Politics | | Cairo, Michael F. The Gulf: the Bush presidencies and the Middle East. University Press of Kentucky, 2012. 212p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780813136721, $35.00; ISBN 9780813140742 e-book, $35.00. Reviewed in 2013jun CHOICE. | | Presidents George H. W. Bush (Bush 41) and George W. Bush (Bush 43) came to power at tumultuous and uncertain periods in international relations. Both were confronted with major challenges to US foreign policy, and their responses to them reflected a complex combination of factors. The major thesis of this highly readable and well-researched book is that, more than anything else, the beliefs, values, and characters of Bush 41 and Bush 43 shaped the contours of US foreign policy. Using examples from US policy in the Middle East during the two Bush presidencies, Cairo (Transylvania Univ.) argues that neither Bush 41 nor Bush 43 can easily fit into the existing foreign policy frameworks. For example, Bush 41 was not a typical realist because of his desire to work through international institutions, and Bush 43 was not a typical neoconservative hegemonist due to his embrace of “democracy promotion” and self-determination of people. Cairo, instead, refers to Bush 41 as an “enlightened realist” and to Bush 43 as a “cowboy liberal” to highlight the latter’s identification with the values of Midland, Texas. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections. — N. Entessar, University of South Alabama |
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