THE BUSH DOCTRINE AND THE US MISSILE DEFENCE SHIEELD IN EASTERN EUROPE: IMPLICATIONS FOR IRAN ANS US MILITARY RESOURCES

ABSTRACT

This study sets out to investigate the Bush Doctrine and the US Missile Defenceshield in Eastern Europe, with the central objective of exploring its implications for Iran. To achieve the objective of this study, two research questions and two hypotheses were raised. To substantiate the claims made in this study, we anchored analysis on the theoretical framework of political realism. This is because the Bush Doctrine which advocates preemptive strike, unilateralism and global spread democracy is a pure demonstration of military strength. Our research design was experimental and ex post facto. The choice of ex post facto design is necessitated by the nature of our research questions. The essential variables in our hypotheses are such that control groups cannot be introduced to address the various effects of the Bush Doctrine and the proposed missile defence system in Eastern Europe. We relied heavily on primary and secondary sources of data. The primary sources of data are from the American Embassy, Congressional research report among others. While text books, journals, unpublished works and official documents constituted our secondary sources. After a critical analysis of available data and extant literature, the study revealed as follows; first, that the US suffered about 4,185 fatalities since the war began in Iraq. This figure excludes the number of US military causalities in Afghanistan where security situation has seriously worsened. The study further revealed that the war has badly depleted the America’s National Guard’s domestic store of vehicles, weapons and communications gear, officials with the service say, leaving units with one-third of the equipment needed to meet requirements for homeland security, its primary mission. Second, the study also revealed that the two wars have cost America $604billion, excluding Obama’s budgetary request for the war. Defense spending during those two wars accounted for a far larger share of the American economy. Adjusted for inflation, it is higher than the costs of the Korea and Vietnam conflicts. It was further revealed that the American intention of using its missile defence system in Eastern Europe to deter Iran from acquiring nuclear weapon leveraged Iran from pursuing nuclear capability .In the final anlysis, the Bush defence policy for America is both a mixed blessing in that he ruled at a time that America needed a personality that can confront headlong the growing anti-American sentiments in the world and particularly in the Middle East. But this he achieved with enormous cost and grief to the American people.