The Bush Doctrine was a plan to secure US global hegemony through preemptive war.

Evidence

The key element of the Bush Doctrine was that it proclaimed the United States’ unilateral right to wage preemptive war—to attack another sovereign nation not because it directly threatened the United States but because it could potentially pose a threat. It gave the president discretion to determine what constituted a threat. Thus, if a nation “harbored terrorists,” developed weapons of mass destruction, or otherwise acted in ways that went against US interests, it would be subject to attack and invasion. Another key aspect of the Bush Doctrine was the imperative to put down the rise of any rival that might challenge US hegemony. The NSS document states: “Our forces will be strong enough to dissuade potential adversaries from pursuing a military buildup in hopes of surpassing, or equaling, the power of the United States.” This translated into US military presence in the Middle East and Central Asia, considered “hot spots” due to their oil and natural gas resources as well as their closeness to potential rivals like China, India, and Russia. The US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were designed to accomplish both aims: to put down potential threats and dissuade potential adversaries. The Bush administration had intended to carry out regime change in Iran and Syria after it did so in Iraq. With the region under its control, Washington could then dictate terms to the other powers that rely on Middle East oil, particularly China. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 485

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader empire-critique literature the reader has been curating on militarism and American power. — connects to: The 1992 Defense Planning Guidance openly proposed unilateral US global hegemony; A 1992 leaked Pentagon report pre-declared US unilateral global hegemony and preemptive war — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 429; The Bush Doctrine authorized preemptive war against merely potential threats (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• The Bush Doctrine authorized preemptive war against merely potential threats #corroborates (0.90)
• The Bush Doctrine legitimized unilateral preventive war and rival suppression #corroborates (0.88) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 417
• The Bush Doctrine legalized preemptive war against any potential US rival. #corroborates (0.85)
• The Bush Doctrine aimed to prevent any rival power challenge, not just terror #expands (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 497
• The Bush Doctrine justified preemptive war to preserve oil-linked regional hegemony #qualifies (0.78)
• The 1992 Wolfowitz report pre-declared US global hegemony and preemptive war ambitions #corroborates (0.72)
• The 1992 Pentagon planning report explicitly planned US global dominance and preemptive war #corroborates (0.70)
• The Bush administration planned rolling regime change across the Middle East #expands (0.70) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 489