Thomas Donnelly

Thomas Donnelly is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the editor of the institute’s National Security Outlook newsletter. In the following viewpoint, written shortly after the conclusion of major combat operations in the 2003 war on Iraq, he analyzes the arguments for war made by President George W. Bush, concluding that the war marked a positive turning point in American foreign policy. He considers the war a prime example of the “Bush Doctrine”—the idea that repressive governments that threaten the United States should not merely be “contained” but changed, if necessary by military force. Donnelly defends Bush’s decision to attack Iraq without explicit approval from the United Nations and argues that America should continue to use...