Vous consultezLe « nouveau paradigme stratégique » républicain

With security experts so many and prominent in its ranks, the Bush Administration unsurprisingly came to power with a far-reaching strategic agenda. The project implies redirecting US foreign and security policy away from vaguely-defined objectives and undiscerning interventions. Practically, its proponents claim, it means acting more selectively yet more decisively, reducing US commitments and exposure abroad while enhancing its freedom of action and military power. On both accounts, this policy has fueled international and European resentment over “US unilateralism”. Strategic defenses are probably the most contending issue: while the Bush Administration considers the rapid deployment of missile defenses to be of paramount importance, many US allies see them as superfluous or, worse, destabilizing, not to mention great powers adamantly opposed to the project, such as China. Whatever the final decision, missile defenses are but a part of a grander scheme, supported by the proponents of the so-called “Revolution in Military Affairs”. Within that framework of technological and military dominance, missile defenses are closely linked to the protection of US space assets and therefore with the militarization of outer space.

Keywords
Missile defenses, Georges W. Bush, Security policy, RMA, Space