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Outlook for U.S. Anti-Terror and Foreign Policies after September 11
Kim Sung-han
Professor, IFANS
Abstract
The “September 11 terror attacks” have opened the door to the emergence of anti-terror “multi-spectrum warfare” in that not only military resources but diplomatic and economic resources must be mobilized multinationally and at multiple levels to annihilate terrorist organizations. The United States, therefore, will carry out a comprehensive policy wherein it expands the military budget to conduct the war against terror while stepping up legal, institutional, and diplomatic efforts. It will also strengthen its information and special operations warfare capabilities.
The Bush administration, which has called for peace through power and taken a unilateralist position on international issues under the leitmotif “American internationalism,” will focus on multilateral cooperation as a way of complementing its unilateralism. However, while cooperation via multilateral organizations is a good way to build the ground for anti-terror activities, it can drag down the efficiency, and in this regard, Washington’s multilateral cooperation efforts will face a certain limit. The United States now faces a situation where it must seek various measures for long-term anti-terror warfare and homeland defense with only limited resources that an economic recession will grant. This means the United States is most likely to exercise extreme self-restraint on intervention in international conflicts that are “irrelevant to the terror issue.”
As the attacks in Afghanistan come to an end, the seven countries on the US State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism will receive spotlight, and North Korea will be no exception. The United States thinks the ball has already gone over to North Korea’s court and will talk with Pyongyang should the latter propose dialogue. However, unless North Korea takes a step forward from what has been its position on the issue of missiles and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) prior to the terrorist attacks until now, Pyongyang and Washington cannot but run into a wall in improving their relations.
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