Debate on NATO Enlargement, 1993

Abstract

When Bill Clinton took office of the U.S. presidency in January 1993, he undoubtedly inherited a series of complex foreign policy issues— mostly issues involving conflicts that were taking place within rather than between nations, raising new and difficult questions pertaining to the definition of nation and nationhood. However, Clinton had won the presidency by promising to focus “like a laser beam” on issues haunting the domestic economy. In the face of widespread economic stagnation and a mounting federal deficit, there was a widespread feeling among the American public that their country needed to focus its energies on domestic rather than foreign policy problems. This meant that public support for U.S. foreign policy endeavors or peacekeeping missions increasingly declined. And as Clinton himself announced during his acceptance speech to the 1992 Democratic Convention:

The end of the Cold War permits us to reduce defence spending while still maintaining the strongest defence in the world, but we must plough back every dollar of defence cuts into building American jobs right here at home. I know well that the world needs a strong America, but we have learnt that strength begins at home.¹