Monday, February 5, 2018

PCG's Ron Fraser Dismissed Condoleeza Rice as Having a "Liberal Ethos" (2001)

PCG's Ron Fraser was not pleased with Condoleeza Rice being appointed as National Security Adviser upon the assumption of power by George W. Bush.
In a destabilized world, foreign policy is played out often at high risk against heavy odds. Rumor has it that the president’s foreign-policy advisers are divided. ... presidential adviser on foreign policy Condoleeza Rice exhibits a certain liberal ethos in her views. Such a mix of minds may well provide a confusion of views that will frustrate decision-making for the new president. ... 
A weak-willed U.S. approach to maintaining order in the Balkan Peninsula allowed civil war in Macedonia to spark. This will only serve to influence a policy of U.S. disengagement from the Balkans. Condoleeza Rice virtually promised a U.S. troop withdrawal from Yugoslavia as part of President Bush’s electoral platform. ... 
Following the Rice philosophy, the Bush administration has accepted a basically hands-off policy on Balkan, Mideast and Irish affairs—all the subject of intense, if inept, diplomatic activity under the previous administration. Someone had to fill the vacuum. Guess who? The EU slipped in quickly to seize the advantage and is speedily taking over the Middle East peace process, while the Germans are coming out from under the table to take the lead in the Balkans.... (Ron Fraser, At The Crossroads, May 2001.)

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