Foreign policy of the George H. W. Bush administration

This article is part of a series about George H. W. Bush
Family Electoral history Pre-vice presidency U.S. Representative for Texas's 7th U.S. Ambassador U.N. China Chair of the RNC Director of Central Intelligence 43rd Vice President of the United States Transition Tenure Reagan administration first inauguration second inauguration Reagan assassination attempt Deregulation 41st President of the United States Presidency timeline Transition Inauguration Policies Environmental Foreign international trips Pardons Appointments Cabinet Judiciary Thomas Tenure Thousand points of light foundation Invasion of Panama Gulf War Operation Restore Hope NAFTA Timeline '89 '90 '91 '92–'93 Presidential campaigns 1980 primaries convention 1988 primaries convention "No new taxes" debates election 1992 primaries convention debates election Vice presidential campaigns 1980 selection convention election 1984 convention election Post-presidency Presidential library Bibliography Awards and honors Bush School of Government Death and state funeral
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George H. W. Bush, whose term as president lasted from 1989 until 1993, had extensive experience with US foreign policy. Unlike his predecessor, Ronald Reagan, he downplayed vision and emphasized caution and careful management. ^{[citation needed]}He had quietly disagreed with many of Reagan's foreign policy decisions and tried to build his own policies.^[1] His main foreign policy advisors were Secretaries of State James Baker, a longtime friend, and National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft. Key geopolitical events that occurred during Bush's presidency were:^[2][3]

• The Gulf War, in which Bush led a large coalition that defeated Iraq following its Invasion of Kuwait, but allowed Saddam Hussein to remain in power.
• The United States invasion of Panama to overthrow a local dictator.
• The signing with the Soviet Union of the START I and START II treaties for nuclear disarmament.
• Victory in the Cold War over communism.
• Revolutions of 1989 and the collapse of Moscow-oriented Communism, especially in Eastern Europe
• The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, replaced by the Post-Soviet states (Russia and 14 other countries).
• German reunification in 1990, with the democratic West Germany absorbing the ex-Communist East Germany.
• The expansion of NATO to the east, starting with a united Germany.