Paul Wolfowitz

Paul Dundes Wolfowitz (born December 22, 1943) is an American academic and political figure. Wolfowitz is a polarizing and controversial figure both within the United States and abroad. He is often seen as a leading proponent of the 2003 Iraq War and architect of the ambitious foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration known as the Bush Doctrine. His views are often characterized as representing a modern American philosophy of neoconservatism. He is currently President of the World Bank.

U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy

From 1989-93 under U.S. President George H.W. Bush Wolfowitz served as U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy reporting to the then U.S. Defense Secretary Dick Cheney. Wolfowitz was charged with realigning U.S. military strategy in the post-cold war environment. During the 1991 Persian Gulf War Wolfowitz?s team were charged with the co-ordination and review of military strategy as well as the raising of $50 billion in allied financial support for the operation. Wolfowitz was reportedly distraught by the administrations decision to stop short of removing Saddam Hussein and the betrayal of the Kurdish and Shiite revolutionaries encouraged to rise up against their dictator that this policy entailed. In the aftermath of the war Wolfowitz wrote the Defense Planning Guidance to "set the nation?s direction for the next century" that many saw as a "blueprint for U.S. hegemony". At the time the official administration line was one of containment and the contents of Wolfowitz?s highly controversial plan that included calls for preemption and unilateralism proved unpalatable to the more moderate members of the administration including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell and the President himself, so Cheney was charged with producing the watered-down version that was finally released in 1992.

Related Topics:
U.S. President - George H.W. Bush - Undersecretary of Defense for Policy - U.S. Defense Secretary - Dick Cheney - Military strategy - Cold war - 1991 Persian Gulf War - Saddam Hussein - Kurdish - Shiite - Revolutionaries - Dictator - Defense Planning Guidance - Hegemony - Unilateralism - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - Colin Powell

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Wolfowitz fell out of favor under U.S. President Bill Clinton and left government for a short while.

Related Topics:
U.S. President - Bill Clinton

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