Released in December 2002, Policy Brief #113 from the Brookings Institution addresses the policy implications of the preemption strategy first articulated by President George W. Bush in a speech from June 2002. As defined within President Bush's National Security Strategy, preemption is the anticipatory use of force in the face of an imminent attack. Perhaps more ominous is the expanded definition of preemption to include preventive war, which is the main concern of this policy paper, written by Michael E. O'Hanlon, Susan E. Rice, and James B. Steinberg. In the 9-page paper, the authors offer a brief overview of President Bush's foreign policies over the past two years, along with exploring the potential gravity of embracing this new expanded understanding of preemption and its potential uses.
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