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Difficulty: MediumThe War on Terror and Post-9/11 Security

"Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped, and defeated. ... Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign, unlike any other we have ever seen. We will direct every resource at our command—every means of diplomacy, every tool of intelligence, every instrument of law enforcement, every financial influence, and every necessary weapon of war—to the disruption and to the defeat of the global terror network."
— President George W. Bush, Address to a Joint Session of Congress, September 20, 2001

Which of the following best describes the shift in United States foreign policy represented by the goals outlined in the excerpt?

  1. A
    An adherence to traditional Cold War strategies of containment and nuclear deterrence
  2. A transition from containing sovereign nation-states to combating decentralized, non-state networksAnswer
  3. C
    A return to absolute isolationism and unilateralism in global diplomatic affairs
  4. D
    A prioritization of economic aid and international trade agreements over military intervention

Answer

The transition from containing sovereign nation-states to combating decentralized, non-state networks
The goals described in the excerpt represent a transition from containing sovereign nation-states to combating decentralized, non-state networks. While twentieth-century U.S. foreign policy, particularly during the Cold War, focused on deterring and containing established nation-states like the Soviet Union, the post-9/11 era required a shift to target mobile, non-state terrorist organizations and networks that operated across international borders.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the historical context of the speech, which occurred immediately after the September 11 attacks and marked the declaration of the War on Terror.
Contextualized the speech as the starting point of the War on Terror.
Understanding the immediate historical context helps clarify the intended targets and methods of the policy.
2
Analyze the foreign policy goals described in the text, focusing on the target ('every terrorist group of global reach') and the methods ('every necessary weapon of war' and 'global terror network').
Identified the focus on non-state actors and global networks rather than traditional borders.
This highlights the shift in target definition from countries to decentralized networks.
3
Contrast this new paradigm with the previous dominant foreign policy framework (Cold War containment of nation-states) to identify the core shift in U.S. foreign policy.
Recognized the shift from containing state actors to preempting and dismantling non-state terror networks.
This directly answers the prompt regarding the foreign policy shift.

Key Concept

The War on Terror and Post-9/11 Security
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The War on Terror and Post-9/11 Security

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