Abstract

Neoconning Us Again?

Libya's agreement to give up its weapons of mass destruction and open itself up to inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency is a welcome development. But it is not a product of the Bush doctrine, as the White House and its neoconservative supporters would have us believe. Indeed, it seems apparent that this agreement could have occurred much earlier had the Bush Administration not been so preoccupied with preparing for war on Iraq. In fact, the rehabilitation of Libya and, for that matter, Syria and Iran, is the culmination of a ten-year process of international diplomacy involving engagement and sanctions. It is, of course, difficult to divine Qaddafi's exact reasons for opening up his country to inspections at this time. But he has long made clear his desire to renounce support for terrorism and to re-enter the international mainstream. In any case, Libya was not an immediate target of the Bush Administration, and it was not possible that Washington would have attacked Libya against the express wishes of its three closest European allies--Britain, Italy and Spain--all of which had carried on diplomatic and trade relations with Tripoli against Washington's wishes. Thus, the Libyan case seems to be more a vindication of multilateral diplomacy and the United Nations than of the Bush doctrine.