Richardcyoung.com

The Online Home of Author and Investor, Dick Young

  • Home
  • How We Are Different
  • About Us
    • Foundation Principles
    • Contributors
  • Investing
    • You’ve Read The Last Issue of Intelligence Report, Now What?
  • Your Survival Guy
  • The Great Reset
  • COVID-19
  • My Rifles
  • Dividends and Compounding
  • Your Security
  • The Swiss Way
  • Dick Young
  • Debbie Young
  • Key West
  • Paris
  • Dick’s R&B Top 100
  • Liberty & Freedom Map
  • Bank Credit & Money
  • Your Survival Guy’s Super States
  • NNT & Cholesterol
  • Work to Make Money/Invest to Save Money
  • Your Health
  • Ron Paul
  • US Treasury Yield Curve

Bush 41: “The Last Serious Foreign Policy President”

December 4, 2018 By Richard C. Young

CIA Welcomes Former President George H.W. Bush Back to CIA to Celebrate 40th Anniversary of Swearing-in as Director of Central Intelligence. January 29, 2016

At The Federalist, Sumantra Maitra explains the prudent foreign policy decisions of President George H.W. Bush. During the collapse of the Soviet Union, in what could have turned into a complete meltdown of society in Russia and the other Soviet states, Bush 41 maintained his awareness of the broader perspective and didn’t attempt to take advantage of the Russians, which could have caused a violent reaction from the still powerful country. Maitra writes (abridged):

In a world largely inhabited by foreign policy ideologues with no sense of history, one can only hope George H.W. Bush’s prudence, restraint, and realist statecraft makes a comeback  

It was under Bush 41’s leadership that the Western leaders understood the momentous times they were passing through, and other Western leaders like Francois Mitterrand of France, Margaret Thatcher and John Major of Britain, and Helmut Kohl of Germany understood that it is imperative to be generous in victory.

The Cold War ended without a single shot proverbially fired, and the credit for the relatively peaceful devolution of the Soviet Empire goes completely to the calm, cold, calculating Bush administration.

Bush 41 was the last “serious” foreign policy president, with a sense of history and proportion, and an experience to have actually fought in the last global great power war. Unlike his myopic successor, Bush 41 was a conservative and a realist.

Humble and stoic in victory, he apparently understood what subsequent generations of policymakers failed to grasp: that unipolarity is not a permanent state of affairs in the world, that aspiring hegemony is unsustainable, and that balance of power and acknowledging the defeated adversary’s interest are keys to a long-term peace.

His realism was again on display during the Gulf War, when Saddam Hussein wanted to be a regional hegemon. Bush worked with allies, got the Saudis to pay the major cost of the war, had the United States play the role of an offshore balancer, and defeated Hussain’s expansionism.

All the while, he understood the simple reality that toppling a dictator wouldn’t mean there would be democracy and peace in the region tomorrow.

George H. W. Bush was a salutary post-war foreign policy president. As one mourns his passing, one can only wish his sense of conservative prudence, restraint, realpolitik, and his deep admiration of the cycles of history makes a comeback in a world otherwise full of myopic idealists.​

Read more here.

If you’re willing to fight for Main Street America, click here to sign up for my free weekly email.

Related Posts

  • Jeb Bush a Foreign Policy Cipher
  • Is a Serious Washington Foreign Policy Blunder Just Ahead?
  • Toward a Libertarian Foreign Policy
  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Richard C. Young
Richard C. Young is the editor of Young's World Money Forecast, and a contributing editor to both Richardcyoung.com and Youngresearch.com.
Latest posts by Richard C. Young (see all)
  • Republicans Acquiesce to Democrats’ Abuses of Power - August 10, 2022
  • Pelosi’s Trip a “Pointless Gesture That Brought Us Closer to Military Conflict” - August 9, 2022
  • Who Benefits from and Orchestrated the Trump Raid? - August 9, 2022

Dick Young’s Must Reads

  • CONSTITUTIONAL CARRY: Alabama Becomes 22nd Permitless Carry State
  • Making America Great Again Is What America Wants
  • “The Goal”: Strong Families, Resilient Faith, Thriving Middle Class.
  • Democracy & Diversity: Not In the Constitution
  • Boom—Your Life Changes
  • You Want the Limo, Not the Public Bus
  • What a Way to Make a Living: New Hampshire #1
  • “I’ve Got Guys Buying Guns/Ammo for Me All Through the Night.”
  • Biden Wants to Gut the Tax Benefit of 401K Plans
  • Robo-Advisors: When You Have a Lot More to Lose than Money

Our Most Popular Posts

  • Who Benefits from and Orchestrated the Trump Raid?
  • The Higher Taxes, Bigger IRS, and More Inflation Act of 2022
  • Did China Buy Land in North Dakota to Spy on Air Force Base?
  • A Conservative Case for Optimism
  • Your Retirement Life: Let the Slow and Steady Be Your Way of LIFE
  • Pelosi’s Trip a "Pointless Gesture That Brought Us Closer to Military Conflict"
  • Kamala Harris Facing the Political Opportunity of a Lifetime
  • DESANTIS RESISTS: Suspends Soros-Funded Destruction of America
  • Immigrants Poised to FLOOD THE BORDER After Democrats Reject Title 42
  • Who Is Alex Jones?

Disclosure

RSS Youngresearch.com

  • PRIMARY RESULTS: Pro-Trump Candidates Clean Up
  • Your Retirement Life: Let the Slow and Steady Be Your Way of LIFE
  • Resilient Nordic Market Spawns Fast Growing Offshoot
  • If the Phone Doesn’t Ring…It’s Me
  • SHOCK: Home Prices FALL in San Francisco as Market Dries Up
  • Federal Reserve Governor Signals MORE Big Rate Hikes
  • DESANTIS RESISTS: Suspends Soros-Funded Destruction of America
  • Despite All the Money Involved, Crypto Is Still a Wild Market
  • BIDEN UNCONVINCING: Saudis Holding Fire on Spare Capacity
  • Your Seats Await at Newport’s Castle Hill

Republicans Acquiesce to Democrats’ Abuses of Power

The Woke Enforcers

BLUE STATE BLUES: There’s No Way Out of This for Democrats

THE NEWS? Believe Nothing, Trust Nothing, and Question Everything

Russian Invasion of Ukraine Speeds of EU Integration of Eastern European Nations

Victor Davis Hanson: How to Bust DC’s Stronghold

Copyright © 2022 | Terms & Conditions | About Us | Dick Young | Archives