The different US foreign policy factions

Great Debates
1

I am seeking information and analysis about the relative power of different foreign-policy factions in the Bush administration particular from the likes of Collounsbury who seem to be familiar with US foreign policy.

My semi-informed impression goes like this:

The Neo-cons: Rumsfeld,Wolfowitz,Pearle. They seem to be effectively in control of the Pentagon although the military brass appear to hate their guts. They are heavily pro-Israeli and indeed pro-Sharon and generally anti-Arab. They are obsessed about attacking Iraq and maybe regime-change in other ME countries as well. They seem to have a huge number of supporters in the press; Krauthammer,Safire,Will,Weekly Std. National Review and even the New Republic. However I get the impression that they aren’t much trusted by the rest of the policy establishment and considered by many to be a bunch of flakes who don’t have much in the way of either diplomatic or military experience.
The Pragmatists: Principally Codi Rice and maybe Dick Cheney. The heirs of Snowcroft who was Bush pere’s NSA. The successfully pushed against an invasion of Iraq. They are not obsessed by ideology and deeply concerned about things like balancing Iraq versus Iran . They don’t seem to have nearly as many conservative media supporters as compared to the neo-cons but OTOH they are taken more seriously both abroad and by the policy and business establishment in the US. Plus Rice is maybe Bush’s closest foreign policy adviser.
The State Department set: Powell and Armitage. Probably not too different from pragmatists but even more moderate and skeptical of military action. They are generally mistrusted by the conservative press and die-hard conservatives but OTOH they are widely respected abroad and by the liberal establishment in the US. Plus Colin Powell is hugely popular with the American public, more so than any other foreign-policy maker. He probably has quite a bit of influence with professional soldiers as well.

Anyone care to add to or amend this analysis?

Are there any other important factions within this administration? Which faction is on top particularly wrt. Iraq? Which faction is Bush closest to? What about Cheney?

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Hmm. I take it that the internal politics of the Bush administration isn’t a universally fascinating topic of debate. :slight_smile:

I thought I would give my thread a second go. Just to add a little bit of spice I thought I would link to an article which says that Wolfowitz, prince of the neo-cons, may be taking over the Defence Dept with Rumsfeld taking over Homeland Security.
http://www.hillnews.com/072402/open_secrets.shtm

3

There’s always Karl Rove. Granted, his foreign policy expertise is non-existant, but Bush won’t get out of bed unless Rove tells him it’s a good idea. There was a story in the New York Times a few months back that said a number of State Department regulars were upset that Rove was butting in to their field (mainly with respect to Israel and maybe Iraq), but I don’t know what ever came of it. Maybe he backed away, maybe he’s more into it than then. But he’s definitely there, and supposedly he favors the Rumsfeldian style.

As for Cheney, who knows. Literally. Isn’t he still in his cave?