SOME GOOD NEWS ON THE GWOT

US policies pay off in global security, says think-tank
Tue May 24, 2:02 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050524/wl_afp/iissworld_050524180225



LONDON (AFP) - Washington's policies of promoting democracy in Iraq and elsewhere look "increasingly effective", and even the threat from terrorism abated slightly during 2004, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said in an annual report.

The London-based think-tank noted however that the situation in Iraq was also creating a recruitment effect for terrorist groups, an aspect which remained "the proverbial elephant in the living room" of US foreign policy.

The report said that the improvement in the overall strategic climate was helped by factors such as the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, but it added that US President George W. Bush's foreign policies also seemed to be bearing fruit.

"Even though the Bush policy was bold, controversial and sometimes divisive, his aggressive global agenda of promoting freedom, and democracy appeared increasingly effective," the IISS said in its 384-page "Strategic Survey 2004-05".

Counter-terrorism efforts over the period had also seen an overall net gain, the report argued, despite the seemingly "counterproductive" aspects of some of the United States's self-declared "war on terror".

On a more general level, the international scene was different thanks to a change in US policy following George W. Bush's re-election as president, and a realisation in Washington that the "aggressive entrepreneurship" on the world stage of US ideals was not always helpful.

International diplomacy during Bush's second term looked set to be "considerably less turbulent and polarising than it was in his first", the IISS argued.

"Overall, Bush appeared to learn from the Iraq experience that even the United States could not do anything it wanted -- certainly not without the help of its allies, partners and sometimes even multinational institutions."