US Foreign Policy - Essay Example

The decision rejecting the protocol was accompanied by unmeasurable critic especially from European countries. Additionally, Bush’s regime saw withdrawal of United States from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with arguments that the treaty would hinder US’s ability to protect itself from external attacks such as terrorism. Moreover, US raised concerns over development of nuclear weapons by nations such as People’s Republic of China, Iran and North Korea. In 2003 China admitted to making nuclear weapons further straining the relations with US.

In July 2002 the International Criminal Court was created with a mandate to ensure that perpetrators of international crimes such as heads of states are punished. This prompted creation of the American Service members Protection Act (ASPA) in August 2002 in a bid to protect its appointed and elected officials from being tried by an international criminal court whom US is not a member. In relation to trade, Bush signed the free trade agreements with countries such as Chile and Ukraine under the Central American Free Trade Agreement thereby improving trade relations in US.

Matters relating to Iraq’s regime change had started earlier with the signing of Iraq Liberation Act by President Bill Clinton in 1998. After Bush took office he continued with the agenda going forth to publicly press for regime change in 2002. This was on grounds of poor cooperation from Iraq and claims that Iraq was making weapons of mass destruction. In March 2003, Bush declared war on Iraq soon after notifying some allies such as Saudi Arabia on war imminence. The war however did not receive much support both from within US, other countries and agencies such as United Nations (UN) but this did not hinder Bush.

Controversies surrounding the Iraq war arguably form the greatest criticism on Bush’s regime. Obama’s administration from its onset sought to bring the Iraq war to an end. However, there would