"We stand passive in the United States Senate... We are about to vote on a unilateral declaration of war... This is a shift in our nation's historic foreign policy, moving away from deterrence and containment toward a policy of preemptive war."
— Senator Robert Byrd, speech in the United States Senate, October 2002
The shift in United States foreign policy described in the excerpt most directly resulted from which of the following?
- AThe deployment of U.S. forces to contain the global spread of communism
- The launch of the War on Terror following the September 11 attacksAnswer
- CThe decision to return to absolute isolationism and withdraw from global alliances in the 1930s
- DThe pursuit of traditional nation-state containment policies during the Cuban Missile Crisis
Answer
The launch of the War on Terror following the September 11 attacks
The correct option is correct because the attacks of September 11, 2001, led to a dramatic shift in United States foreign policy. Under the Bush administration, the U.S. moved toward a doctrine of preemption and unilateral military intervention against non-state terrorist organizations and states harboring them, which is the subject of Senator Byrd's critique in 2002.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
The War on Terror and Post-9/11 Security
Estimated Time:45s