The Clinton Doctrine: An Unfinished Work of Strategic Art, "A Call for a Strategy to Counter the Subnational WMD Warfare Threat Against the American Homeland"

Abstract

Retired Marine General, Bernard Trainor, contends that President Clinton's showdown with Iraq in the early months of 1998 "represents that rarest of moments, when a presidential decision can define an era," comparable in its significance to the Truman Doctrine of containment A key element of the Truman Doctrine was that it would be implemented with allies if possible, but executed unilaterally, if necessary Currently, the United States is confronted with a threat that "may prove harder to contain - the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMD)" General Trainor notes that since the end of the Cold War, we have searched for "an organizing principle for our national security interests" Today, many national security professionals argue that the greatest risk to our national security interests is from asymmetrical threats. i e , those posed by nuclear. biological and chemical weapons used either by rogue nation states or subnational entities, such as terrorist groups For this reason, Trainor emphasizes that President Clinton's stand against Iraq was of critical significance and established an important principle for the 21st Century He suggests that today's generation is no more aware of the historical implication of Bill Clinton's decision than his generation was of Harry Truman's in 1950 The Clinton Doctrine essentially is a response to the threat of WMD and a statement of the willingness of the United States "to shoulder the principal responsibility for their containment" While the United States, ideally, would prefer to contain WMD with the aid of multinational organizations, "the United States will act alone if necessary" In closing, Trainor suggests that the President's legacy "will not be sex and scandal, rather it will be the Clinton Doctrine "1

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 09, 1998
Accession Number
ADA443855

Entities

People

  • Michael W. Casey

Organizations

  • National War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Center Of Gravity
  • Chemical Warfare Agents
  • Chemical Weapons
  • Cold War
  • Department Of Defense
  • Department Of Homeland Security
  • Emergency Response
  • Governments
  • Health Services
  • Law
  • Military Strategy
  • National Security
  • Second World War
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare
  • Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Readers

  • Strategic Security Studies