Quick questions on Bush 41 and the New World Order: HSC Modern History Conflict in the Gulf

George Herbert Walker Bush (1924-2018) had unusual preparation for the Gulf crisis. He had been a Navy combat pilot in 1944-45, a Texas oil executive in the 1950s, US Ambassador to the UN (1971-1973), US envoy to Beijing (1974-1975), Director of Central Intelligence (1976-1977), and Vice President under Reagan (1981-1989).

The invasion of Kuwait on 2 August 1990 reached Bush at his Kennebunkport, Maine, vacation home. Bush was at the Aspen Institute on 2 August meeting British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher was unequivocal: this was a clear breach of international law requiring military response. Her later "this is no time to go wobbly, George" remark crystallised the British position.

Soviet cooperation. Baker met Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze in Moscow on 3 August 1990; the joint condemnation that day was unprecedented. Bush met Gorbachev at the Helsinki summit on 9 September 1990.

Bush insisted on UN cover. The five core resolutions:

Bush deferred operational command to Powell, Schwarzkopf, and Cheney. He set strategic objectives (expel Iraq from Kuwait; restore the Sabah government; protect American lives; promote regional security) but did not micromanage.

Bush's reasons for halting at 100 hours, drawn from his and Scowcroft's memoir A World Transformed (1998):

Bush used the phrase "new world order" repeatedly between September 1990 and his 1992 reelection campaign. The most important formulation came in the 11 September 1990 address to a joint session of Congress:

Bush 41's post-war policy was containment: maintained UN sanctions under UNSCR 687, UNSCOM weapons inspections (established 3 April 1991), and the Northern (33rd parallel, from 7 April 1991) and Southern (32nd parallel, from August 1992) No-Fly Zones.

Bush 41 lost the November 1992 election to Bill Clinton (43.0 to 37.4 per cent, with Ross Perot taking 18.9 per cent), despite the Gulf victory pushing his approval rating to 89 per cent in March 1991. The recession of 1990-91 and Clinton's "it's the economy, stupid" campaign produced an unusual case of foreign-policy victory not translating into electoral success.

George H. W. Bush and Brent Scowcroft (A World Transformed, 1998) is the participants' account.

Baker met Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze in Moscow on 3 August 1990; the joint condemnation that day was unprecedented. Bush met Gorbachev at the Helsinki summit on 9 September 1990.

Baker secured Egypt (Mubarak), Saudi Arabia (King Fahd), and Syria (Assad). The Cairo Arab League summit (10 August 1990) voted to deploy Arab forces against Iraq. Bush met Assad in Geneva on 23 November 1990.

Constitutional restraints prevented combat participation but they paid: Japan around 13 billion US dollars, Germany around 6 billion. Baker's "tin cup" diplomacy raised around 54 billion total, more than covering US war costs.

Bush requested authority to use force on 8 January 1991. The vote on 12 January 1991 was 250-183 in the House and 52-47 in the Senate.

It was assembled through three months of intensive diplomacy.