History IDENTIFIERS *Global Issues

For U.S. neo-idealists, the 1990s represented a moment to be seized, a time in which the strategies of conflict and confrontation of the Cold War period could be replaced by strategies designed to enhance cooperation among the nation-states. In 2001, the George W. Bush administration found itself in the position of continuing the same Bill Clinton era search for a strategic framework around which to organize U.S. foreign policy. Evidence of these policies can be found in four strategic decisions made by the George W. Bush administration shortly after coming to office: (1) withdrawing from the Kyoto Protocol; (2) desiring to extract the U.S. from the Balkans issue; (3) ending direct negotiations with North Korea; and (4) continuing the 20+ years efforts of the U.S. to broker a deal for peace in the Middle East. Pursuit of a national ballistic missile defense system, opposed in the international community, reinforced the unilateralist policies. The carnage on September 11, 2001, significantly changed the Bush administration's foreign policy and agenda, as the world's only true superpower now had to deal with attacks on its homeland. This literature review on global U.S. relationships seeks to solidify an answer to the question "What do international relations scholars perceive as the role of the United States as a lone superpower in a quasi-unipolar political system?" The review opts to answer the question by examining internal forces and external influences that determine the role of a single superpower through an examination of U.S. foreign policy over the previous 15 years. It singles out the 1999 "The Lonely Superpower " (Samuel Huntington) as the most important article. Lists 18 references. (BT) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the on ginal document. A Single Superpower in a Quasi