George Bush's Foreign Policy Record

The 1972 anti-ballistic missile treaty

In August 2001, George Bush announced the death of this cold war era treaty, in order to allow the US to develop another cold war weapons system, known as national missile defence (NMD) or Son of Star Wars

Critics feared not only NMD itself, but also the Russian response. This week the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, put some of those fears to rest by agreeing to cut his country's nuclear arsenal, albeit on terms dictated by Washington. Bush refused to destroy the decommissioned weapons, preferring to keep them in storage, just in case.

The Kyoto treaty

In March 2001, the Bush administration said the world's largest producer of greenhouse gases had "no interest" in implementing this worldwide programme to combat global warming. Bush cited the harm that would be caused to the US economy and the fact that developing nations were exempt from the deal's emissions targets. He had already u-turned on a campaign pledge to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

1972 convention on biological and toxin weapons

In May 2001, officials reporting to Bush kicked the teeth out of the chemical weapons ban by urging him to reject a protocol on inspection. The US said the protocol was insufficient to stop countries producing the weapons, but US pharmaceuticals companies had been lobbying against independent inspections of their facilities for some time.

A year later, the US went one better by having the head of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Jose Bustani, fired on allegations of financial mismanagement.

Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war

By failing to classify the men captured in Afghanistan as prisoners of war, the US effectively scrapped its recognition of a 50 year old convention to protect those captured during battle. Lawyers in Britain cried foul, and allies warned the US that its actions could come back to haunt any US soldiers taken captive in future conflicts.

UN conference on small arms

In July 2001, Bush rendered null and void a UN conference to curb the international trade in small arms. The UN wanted a legally binding agreement to reduce the small arms available worldwide. It did not get it.

Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

Given all of the above, Bush was clever to back out of this treaty, which ensures that countries abide by the terms of treaties they have signed, even if their legislatures have not ratified them.

Nato

Despite accusations of unilateralism, Bush supported a historic Nato agreeement to include Russia in key decisions, effectively creating a military partner out a cold war enemy.

World Trade Organisation

The Bush administration has been a staunch supporter of the WTO. The president was there to welcome China and Taiwan into the fold last year, and the US has been quick to refer the frequent EU-US disagreements to the WTO, winning the day on beef and bananas. The administration even hopes the WTO will come to its aid over controversial plans to impose steep tariffs on foreign steel imports. Washington argues that the EU should not be allowed to take, well, unilateral action and should wait for a WTO judgement instead.