Weinberger-Powell and Transformation: Perceptions of American Power from the Fall of Saigon to the Fall of Baghdad

Throughout American history, policy makers have struggled with the use of American military power. The Limited War argument holds that the use of force needs to remain an option to support American diplomacy. The Never Again argument, meanwhile, holds that the use of American military power should be undertaken only in the face of threats against vital national interests. The most influential Never Again argument has been the 1984 Weinberger Doctrine, later expanded to the Weinberger-Powell Doctrine, which sought to limit the use of American military power. After the Vietnam War and the 1983 Marine barracks bombing, the Weinberger-Powell Doctrine was ascendant over Limited War arguments like Secretary of State George Schultzs case in favor of the limited use of American military force against targets of less than vital interest. Between the 1991 Gulf War and the 2002 Invasion of Iraq, however, the Weinberger-Powell Doctrine lost much of its influence with American policy makers. This thesis will establish a link between the loss of influence by the Weinberger-Powell Doctrine and the rise in the utility of force based on improvements in military technology and doctrines, leading to a broadening of policy objectives that would not have been possible during the Cold War. The author conducts an historical analysis of the process behind the weakening of the Weinberger-Powell Doctrine after the 1991 Gulf War. He also examines the course of U.S. military transformation since 1973 and analyzes the correlation between it and policy makers perceptions of the increased potency of force. To trace these changes over time, the thesis focuses on five historical periods the period immediately after the Vietnam War the period covering the Reagan administration 1981-1988 the period covering the George H. W. Bush administration 1989-1992 the Clinton years 1993-2000 and the period covering the George W. Bush presidency 2001-.