George W. Bush Annotated Bibliography

[Alexander Hunt <ahunt1@mail.utexas.edu>]

George W. Bush Annotated Bibliography
Alexander Hunt (facilitator)
Michael Baker
Katie Jernigan
Zach Neumann
 
Iran:
 
"Bush, Schroeder Exhange Views on Iran's Nuclear Program" States News Service.
27 June 2005.
 This article basically discusses the unacceptability of Iran developing
nuclear
weapons.  It presents the President in a good light, a he and the international
community agree to attempt to stop nuclear development in unstable countries.
The article also discussed the form of the Security Counsel and the powers of
the EU-3
 
Kashefi, Shahab.  "Will America Attack Iran?"  Mardom-Salari.  15 August 2005.
The speaker clearly does not favor President Bush or his policies, but he does
provide an accurate analysis of Bush's likelihood of attacking Iran.  He list
several reasons why it is unlikely for America to attack Iran, even though the
President presented it as a possibility.  Most of his reasoning has relates to
the threat of global disapproval. 
 
"Iran Press:  Oil behind U.S. Hostility towards Iran."  BBC Monitoring Middle
East - Political Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring.  20 April 2005. 
This article states that the United States economic need for oil is what is
driving the President to be hostile towards Iran.  It is very biased against
the President.  It uses America's "weapons of mass destruction" faulty
reasoning in the war against Iraq as a basis for evaluating American relations
with Iran. 
 
Pollack, Kenneth and Ray Takeyh. “Taking on Tehran.” Foreign Affairs.
March/April 2005.
This article is an analysis of the Iranian government. Basically, the authors
argue that divisions between moderates and hardliners in Iran present the West
with an opportunity to discourage the development of nuclear armaments. Though
recent events seem to disprove the article’s thesis, the information concerning
the political situation in Iran is still very valid.
 
Riechmann, Deb.  "Bush Suspicious of Iran's Nuclear Plans."  Associated Press
Online.  9 August 2005
This article details Bush's suspicions in Iran by discussing the presidents
Plan if nuclear weapon are found in Iran.  Speaking to reporters at his Texas
ranch,
Bush said the newly elected president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had
indicated a willingness to continue discussions with European nations, but did
not hesitate to threaten the country with UN sanctions if nuclear weapons were
found.  
 
Gearan, Anne.  "Bush Says Diplomacy With Iran is Best."  Associated Press
Online.  14 April 2005. 
Bush basically reaffirms his commitment to diplomacy as the best way to stop
Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and the article also states that Israel's
leader ruled out a military strike to destroy Tehran's nuclear program.  The
article presents the president as a man who is willing to compromise and shows
the president in a favorable light. 

Cole, Juan. "The Iraq war is over, and the winner is... Iran." Salon.com. 21
July 2005.
Bush suffered another blow in Iraq as the new Iraqi officials met with leaders
in Iran.  Relations between Iraq and Iran have been poor since the 1950s, but
the new Iraqi government seems to be more in line with Iran now.  Is this
perhaps an early indication of a new Islamic republic?
 
 
Saudi Arabia:

Unger, Craige.  House of Bush, House of Saud.  New York: Scribner, 2004.
This book has a slightly leftist slant but is still a great source of
information to evaluate the relationship between the Saudis and the Bush
family. The two families are very close, even giving one of the members of the
royal family the nickname, Bandar Bush. Any policy decisions regarding the
Saudis will come from this in-depth source.
 
Stevenson, Richard W. "Bush and Saudi Meet at Ranch To Discuss Oil." The New
York Times 26 April 2005: A-1.
The U.S. depends heavily on Saudi oil and oil investment in American markets.
The Saudis control a good percentage of American wealth, and a Saudi cutoff of
oil would devastate the American economy. Discussions between the two world
economic powers occur often, as the Saudis control the largest reserves of the
world’s oil.


Egypt:
 
Schweid, Barry.  "Egypt Says Bush Backs Political Reforms."  The Associated
Press.  18 May 2005. 
This article basically states President Bush advocates political reform in both
Egypt and to a greater extent, the Middle East. It is slanted towards Egypt in
that it  states that the President does not have any doubts about the
Egyptian's willingness to strive towards democracy.  The article reinforces
Bush's support of Egyptian free elections
 
"Egypt's government in tight spot between USA, political forces at home." BBC
Monitoring Middle East.  3 June 2004. 
In this article, Bush firmly states the essential nature of free elections in
Egypt after Black Wednesday.  Bush expressed his intolerance towards
interference with the election process.  The article also notes the surprise of
the Egyptian government at the hard line view of the American government. 
 
  
Syria:
Al Baik, Duraid. "Can Syria Stand Up to American Pressure." The
Financial Times. 25 September 2005.
 
A fairly brief discussion of the tense relationship that exists between Bashar
Al Assad’s Syria and the United States. The article mentions American overtures
towards the promotion of democracy in the region. Though helpful, the article is
not as useful as many of the sources we have collected.
  

Lebanon
Ajami, Fouad. “The Autumn of the Autocrats.” Foreign Affairs. May/June 2005.
Ajami discusses emerging democracy in the Middle East. He places a particular
emphasis on the freedom movements that arose in Lebanon following the
assassination of Rafiq Hariri. He concludes the article by arguing that the
United States has the ability to successfully promote democratic reform in the
region.


General Middle-East / Arab-Israeli Policy:
 
Felton, John. Global Connections: America's Role in the 21st Century.
Washington, D.C.: CQPress, 2002. 
This book provides a quick overview of America's relationship to other
countries around the world.  It provides an objective view of the historical
relationship
between American and various Middle Eastern countries and is relatively
unbiased.
 
Neack, Laura. The New Foreign Policy: U.S. and Comparative Foreign
Policy in The 21st Century. Oxford: Rowman, 2003.
This book shows the different means of policy-making in the 21st Century.  It
uses Al Qaeda as a primary means of showing American foreign policy in the
Middle East.  It gives an unbiased view and new perspective on American foreign
policy. 

Sperry, Paul. Infiltration. Nashville: Nelson Current, 2005.
Sperry claims, "Sadly much of anti-Western terrorism is simply Islam in
practice…" He weaves a story of how prominent American Muslims seek to
violently turn America into an Islamic state.  The ultra-right wing Sperry is
chosen to represent some of the radicals among Bush's constituents.  

Rosner, Shmuel. "Idealogy, Not Nuances." Haaretz. 23 Sept. 2005. Haaretz. 25
Sept. 2005 <http://www.haaretz.com>
Based on some President Bush's speeches, it's clear he is a personal supporter
of Israel.  His idealogical statements are not however, always matched by the
state department which tends to focus on nuances. It seems that there are
sometimes differences in opinion between the president and those who carry out
his policies.    
 
Pieterse, Jan. Globalization or Empire? New York: Routledge, 2004.
Globalization is finding new enemies.  The United States under George Bush seems
to have rejected multilateral globalization for a unilateral more imperial plan.
 The U.S. increasingly refuses to participate in global program unless we are
able to dictate the terms.

Rothkopf, David. “Inside the Committee that Runs the World.” Foreign Policy.
March/April 2005.
Rotkopf offers background on Bush’s foreign policy team. While much of the
article is biographical, it will be helpful in conducting a simulation as it
offers insights into the respective ideologies of key members of the
administration. It also delves into some policy analysis towards the end
although this to has something of a biographical slant.
 
Hatfield, J.H. Fortunate Son. New York: Soft Skull, 2001.
This book is a fairly detailed description of George Bush’s life before becoming
President of the United States. Though it doesn’t focus on Bush’s political
ideology, it’s useful in developing a general picture of the president’s
personality. The book has a liberal slant.
 
Lifton, Robert. Super Power Syndrome: America's Apocalyptic
Confrontation with the World. New York: Nation, 2003.
Lifton discusses the differences between Americans and Islamic Fundamentalists.
While both “sides” are willing to use extreme violence to achieve their global
vision, Americans are less upfront about their willingness to fight and die for
their beliefs. Ultimately, Lifton predicts a cycle of perpetual violence as both
sides go to untold lengths to remake the world in their respective images.

Sammon, Bill. Misunderestimated. New York: ReganBooks, 2004.
 - A personal look at George Bush's early presidency, full of insights about the
human side of Bush.  Misunderestimated focuses on how the inside of how the
president makes decisions on a number of issues from the 2004 election to his
changes to American foreign policy.   

Haass, Richard N. “Regime Change and Its Limits.” Foreign Affairs. July/August
2005
This article discusses the effectiveness of foreign policy that seeks to remove
regimes that have interests inconsistent with those of the United States.
Though Haass discusses nations outside of the Middle East, Iran and Iraq are
prominently featured in the article. It is useful in developing a paradigm for
U.S. global strategy.
 
Lewis, Bernard. “Freedom and Justice in the Modern Middle East.” Foreign
Affairs, May/June 2005.
This article appears in the same edition of Foreign Affairs that Ajami’s does.
Lewis argues that the rhetoric of the Bush administration overlooks the
political and social roots of long standing dictatorships in the Middle East.
However, like Ajami, he believes that democratic reform is a possibility.
 
Makovsky, David. “Gaza: Moving Forward by Pulling Back.” Foreign Affairs.
May/June 2005.
Makovsky advises caution and patience in the development of a final status
agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. He argues that trust must be
established before talks can successfully progress. Specifically, Makovsky
believes that a “calm” Gaza pullout is the first step in calming lingering
tensions.
 
Kengor, Paul. God and George W. Bush: A Spiritual Life. New York:
Regan, 2004.
This book basically discusses George W. Bush's relationship with God.  It
describes Bush a spiritual man, and justifies his use of religion in governing
the United States.  It provides valuable insight to the different religious
motivations that power the president.
 
Kepel, Gilles. The War for Muslim Minds: Islam and the West. Cambridge: 
Belknap, 2004.
This book is a great general source on the history of the Western and Islamic
world pertaining to American foreign policy. The book presents a great history
of why problems have arisen in the past due to foreign policy errors and gives
insight into how to prevent similar errors in the future.
 
Moens, Alexander. The Foreign Policy of George W. Bush: Values, Strategy and
Loyalty. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2004.
This book gives a broad view behind the reasoning of the foreign policy of
George W. Bush. It speaks of his idealism (like the following source does also)
and shows a few specific examples of when that idealism has been acting upon in
foreign policy situations.
 
Mann, James.  Rise of the Vulcans:  The History of Bush's War Cabinet.  New
            York:  Viking, 2004
This book doesn’t focus on President Bush directly, but those that help direct
his decision-making (those people that are members of his war cabinet). The
book follows the history of those respective players and how they have directed
their foreign policy in the past. One of the main pieces of information that can
be extracted from this book is the fact that President Bush’s foreign policy is
modeled on idealism, instead of realism. This differs greatly from the foreign
policy of Condoleezza Rice.
 
Siddiqui, Haroon. "Bush and Sharon Working to a Plan." The Toronto Star. 28
      August 2005: A17.
This source displays the relationship and the history of the relationship
between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and U.S. President George W. Bush.
One informative part of the article discusses the “Roadmap to Peace” created by
the Bush administration and its guidelines and requirements.
 
“U.S. Financial Aid To Israel: Figures, Facts, and Impact.” Washington Report on
Middle East Affairs. http://www.wrmea.com/html/us_aid_to_israel.htm. 26
September 2005.
This website provides statistics about the United States’ aid over the past 50+
years to Israel. The U.S. over this time has given between 74 and 84 billion
dollars. This says a lot not only about the economic relationship between the
two nations, but the overall connection.

"Palestinian Killed at Military Base." The Toronto Star. 23 September 2005:
            A11.
Although this article doesn’t provide very much insight into President Bush’s
stance on Middle East action directly, it provides a backdrop for the stance
that the U.S. government takes against the Palestinians. The article provides
commentary from the U.S. government linking Palestinian acts of war to other
types of terrorism around the world which the U.S. is fighting a “global war”
against.
 
"Israel's Link to Arab World Warming." The Toronto Sun. 17 September 2005: 37.
This article provides a link to Israeli decisions in the past that have improved
relations between them and the rest of the Arab nations in the region. This
source can be used as a guide to “warming” relationships with other countries
in the region, and providing advice to Ariel Sharon and other Israeli leaders.
 
Harnden, Toby. "Bush's 'Bruiser' Squares Up to UN in Row Over Palestinian
Propoganda."  Sunday Telegraph. 21 August 2005.
This article discusses a recent discussion at the UN in New York over
Palestinian-Israeli relations. This article provides much insight into what
recommendations Condi Rice is providing to President Bush. It also gives a
clear policy discussion straight from the U.S. to the international community
about American feeling and policy stance over the conflict.
Iraq:

Mackler, Peter. "Times changing for US since Bush's Iraq war speech."  Agence
France Presse. 13 September 2005.
Since first calling for the UN to invade Iraq in 2002, Bush has seen vast
changes not only in his popularity but also in his policies.  He has shown an
increased interest in multilateral solutions to problems abroad, departing from
his "lone cowboy" approach.  Bush's recent actions focus on mending old
alliances, even with France.

Sandalow, Marc. "News Analysis; A critical moment for Bush Iraq policy." San
Francisco Chronicle. 28 June 2005: A1
With public support for the war in Iraq dwindling even in his own camp, Bush
needs good news from Iraq.  As his approval rating plummets, Bush prepares to
defend his actions.  The White House still maintains that the war is going
well.

Wagner, Thomas. "Secret British government memos show Blair hand wringing over
Bush's Iraq war plans." Associated Press Worldstream. 18 June 2005.
A new report has come out that the president was discussing a "regime change" in
Iraq just six months after 9/11 with UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.  Some among
the British are now questioning whether Bush had a clear reason for going to
war, or it was simply a grudge with Sadaam.

Kondracke, Morton. "Bush makes better case for Iraq war but needs more troops."
San Gabriel Valley Tribune. 13 September 2005.
Bush reasserts that Iraq is a key front in the war on terror.  He has shifted
slightly to the strategy of bringing democracy to the middle east, as way of
removing hotspots of terror.  Bush is now emphasizing the importance of the
success of Iraqi democracy to the U.S. as a whole.

Silva, Mark. "Bush officials scramble to overcome rising opposition to war in
Iraq." Chicago Tribune. 24 June 2005.
There are now claims that the Iraq war is already making the Bush administration
a lame duck administration.  Bad news in Iraq seems to be bad news for the
president.  There is a sense that there has been a turning point in the
nation's view on the war. 

Luttwak, Edward. “Iraq: The Logic of Disengagement.” Foreign Affairs.
January/February 2005.
Luttwak calls for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces form Iraq. He believes
that this will strengthen efforts to combat global terrorism, lend legitimacy
to the constitutional process in Iraq and decrease America’s disapproval rating
abroad. It offers an interesting perspective on an alternative policy course.