THE CLINTONPRESIDENCY: 1993-2001
#24B
I. CLINTON FOREIGN POLICY
A. HIS BACKGROUND & IDEAS
1. “The successor to a doctrine of containment must be a strategy of enlargement—
enlargement of the world’s free community of market democracies.”
2. Understood importance of ______.
3. He wanted to make the world safe for ______.
4. Looked to multilateralism as the best instrument for the exercise of U.S.influence.
B. HIS POLICY PRIORITIES
1. Military intervention for______purposes. Example: ______.
2. To ______: Example: ______.
3. Promote economic interdependence: Example: NAFTA
4. Manage relations with other powerful states: Examples: China and Russia.
II. THREE CRISES: SOMALIA, BOSNIA, AND NORTH KOREA
A. SOMALIA
Significance: The pubic became more cautious about using the military to promote
humanitarian ends. The tragic result was that ethnic conflicts in other parts of the
world became bloodier than they would have had the U.S. acted earlier.
B. BOSNIA
The significance of the Bosnian intervention and the war against Serbia:
a. The U.S. was not able to work through the UN Security Council because Russia
opposed any action that might threatened Serbia’s position. Once again, the UN
proved ineffective in preventing genocide and maintaining peace.
b. The U.S. intervened fearing that the conflict would spread throughout the region and
risk the destruction of NATO.
C. NORTH KOREA
1. The 1994 Agreed Framework:
a. Kim Jon Il (who succeeded his father in 1994) promised to shut down his nuclear
program and allow in UN inspectors.
b. In return, the North would receive food and petroleum.
2. The outcome(as of 4/28/03): In 2003, Kim admitted to having a nuclear program all
along and in April boasted that it possesses a nuclear bomb which, it claimed, it was
willing to demonstrate.
III.CLINTONINTERVENES IN THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT
A. THE SITUATION CLINTON INHERITED FROM BUSH
B.CLINTON AND THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT
1. The Oslo Agreement: In the summer of 1993, the Israeli government led by Labor
Party PM Yitzhak Rabin opened secret talks with the PLO in Oslo, Norway. In late
August, the two sides agreed to the following:
a. A phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip and much of the West
Bank over the next five years.
b. Promised to settle the final status of Jerusalem and the political standing of the PLO
within five years.
c. On September 13, 1993 Arafat and Rabin, two former bitter enemies, met on the
White House lawn to sign the Oslo Agreement.
2. The Oslo Agreement triggered a new era in ME cooperation.
a. Arab states opened diplomatic relations with Israel:
b. In October 1994, Clinton flew to the border between Israel and Jordan to witness the
establishment of full peace between the two countries.
C. CAMP DAVID II
1. In July 1999, the Labor party returned to power under PM Ehud Barak, a protégé and
admirer of Rabin. Barak promised to negotiate a peace settlement with Arafat within
18 months. Clinton threw himself into the negotiations, hosting Barak and Arafat at a
sixteen-day marathon meeting at Camp David in July 2000. But Camp David II, as it
was called (it had been hosted by Jimmy Carter) failed:
a. Barak offered surprising and far-reaching concessions to Arafat.
b. Arafat, however, declined to engage in give-and-take bargaining, apparently
believing that he need only to hold out a little longer for even more concessions.
Arafat demanded sovereignty over East Jerusalem as the capital of an independent
state of Palestine. Barak refused.
c. Two months later, the Intifada broke out. [Schulzinger, 375]
2. Assessment: Camp David II was too ambitious and put the cart before the horse:
a. The “deal-breaker” issues—control of the TempleMount, the status ofJerusalem,
the right of return to Palestinian refugees, and water—were to be dealt with at a later
date.
b. Underestimated the tenacity and true intentions of Arafat. Ignored Hamas and its
growing influence.
IV. INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM: AL QUEDA
A. FAILED TO DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE POLICY FOR DEALING WITH
INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM, PARTICULARLY BEN LADEN’S AL-QUEDA
B. LOBBED MISSILES AT BEN LADEN’S TRAINING CAMPS IN AFGHANISTAN,
THUS INDICATING TO BIN LADEN THAT THE U.S. WAS COWARDLY.
V. AN ASSESSMENT OF CLINTON’S FOREIGN POLICY
A. HE FAILED TO DEVELOP A STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK, A COHESIVE
VISION, A FOREIGN POLICY STRATEGY.
B. HIS FLIP-FLOPS ILLUSTRATED THAT FOREIGN POLICY WAS MERELY
A MATTER OF TACTICS IN HIS DOMESTIC POLICY WRANGLES.
1. He was so involved in domestic scandals that he allowed special interests groups to
drive foreign policy. E.g., Clinton cultivating the support of wealthy Asian business
executives.
2. Clinton’s presidency illustrates the principle that a president’s personal weaknesses
and character flaws can have a profound affect on American foreign policy.
C. HIS ONE ACCOMPLISHMENT: THE BALKAN INTERVENTION
4/29/03: AFR