Exceptionalism and the George W. Bush Presidency

The policies and attitude of the George W. Bush Administration towards the international rule of law reflect a particularly heightened hegemonic incarnation of a distinctly American ideology. A deep-seated system of belief has functioned as a guiding impulse all throughout the course of U.S. foreign and domestic policy the effects of which have been subsequently cataloged and dubbed exceptionalism. The present analysis sounds a heightened call for concern highlighting both the unprecedented and often illegal actions taken by the former administration as per guided by this ethos as well as the profound implications said actions now spell for the international legal regime. As of now embodied in the global War on Terror of American design this foundational philosophy will be revealed as a highly precarious and dangerous ideology- which if continued to be left unchecked in the hands of the hegemon could threaten to undermine the fabric of the international system itself via a strike through the heart of the very principles upon which it is based.