The Post-Cold War Period

The unveiling of the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe set the motion for the end of the Soviet Union. As the Soviet Union withdrew its military from Eastern Europe, a wave of free elections ousted communist rule in the region, leading to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Finally, in the eve of 1992, the Soviet Union dissolved itself, officially ending the cold war. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, many in the West felt a sense of optimism for the future. This sentiment is well embodied by President George H.W. Bush when he proclaimed the “creation of ’a new world order that would emerge in the wake of communism” (Kaufman 130). However, the downfall of our ideological enemy did not usher in an age of peace,

To address these issues, post-war presidents such as George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush have all laid out their own doctrines that have been deemed as “unsatisfactory” by the American public. By looking into their foreign policy doctrines, it is evident that the United States has not found a comprehensive approach to address the challenges of the post-Cold war period.

The presidency of George H.W. Bush took place during the transitional period between the Cold War and the post-Cold War era in which the United States became the unipolar leader of the world. It is clear that the president was aware that great change was on the horizon when he proclaimed the birth of a “new world order” in the aftermath of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The “new world order” outlined a world in which American troops serve alongside “Arabs, Europeans, Asians, and Africans in defense of principle” (Kaufman 130).

In this period, the intense competition between the two ideologies and their respective champions overshadowed the ethnic and cultural differences between and among nations. With the end of the Cold War, ethnic and cultural tensions re-emerged in many parts of the world as a source of conflict. This phenomenon is can be observed by the wave of ethnic conflict across former Soviet territories and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. Bill Clinton took office during times of increased ethnic strife and anti-American sentiments around the globe. From the very beginning of his presidency, Clinton was involved in a military mission in Somalia that ended in failure. As U.S. forces drove into the capital of Somalia, a massive firefight was initiated which turned public opinion against the military intervention. Despite the domestic opposition to the conflict, Clinton was also criticized for withdrawing from Somalia without adequate results. Clinton’s lose-lose experience with Somalia left him wary of future military interventions. Because of the foreign policy disaster in Somalia, Clinton refused to involve the U.S. military in ethnic conflicts in Rwanda and hesitated in sending forces to the Balkans. But when genocides and massacres in the Balkans sparked international outrage, Clinton sent U.S. forces to the region to end the conflict. The