Bush’s gravest misjudgement

One of the great myths about the Bush administration is that is has adopted a cookie-cutter approach to foreign policy. As Tim Montgomerie pointed out in The Times yesterday, there is actually very little ideological consistency to it as proven by the very different approaches taken to Iraq, Iran, North  Korea and Pakistan.

Of all these approaches, the ‘realist’ one taken to Pakistan may turn out to have been the most mistaken. The short-term convenience of a military strong-man prepared to back the United States, albeit only under duress, has—predictably—actually worsened the situation in the medium term. 

Bob Kagan, one of the smartest American strategists, explains why the idea of backing dictators is so flawed in the Washington Post.

“The dictator always argued [during the Cold War] that the choice was to support him or give the country to the communists. And he always made sure that this was the choice … Today, Pakistan’s Gen.