A Crisis of Authority? A Conversation with Alasdair Roberts about the Bush Years

摘要

Alasdair Roberts's recent book The Collapse of Fortress Bush: The Crisis of Authority in American Government is an appraisal of the George W. Bush administration's response to the 9/11 attacks and its management of the global war on terrorism. This war, Roberts argues, is a neoliberal war designed to accommodate assumptions about the boundaries of governmental action that became prevalent after Ronald Reagan's election to the presidency in 1980. Concerns about the renaissance of the "imperial presidency" are simplistic and misplaced, Roberts proposes, because they largely ignore how executive authority in the United States has been weakened by political, economic, and institutional forces. President Bush's actions after 9/11 reflect the limitations of his power. His White House was unable to impose significant burdens on citizens or the economy, felt forced to expand power surreptitiously, and chose to act militarily because the armed services enjoyed a level of legitimacy that was absent from the rest of government.