George H W Bush - A World Transformed

Memorable a compelling look at some very important historical developments remarkably candid. Supplemented with a series of revealing and heretofore unpublished excerpts from Bushs White House diaries.

Business Week

A World Transformed gives new perspective to the events that continue to shape U.S. policy in the Middle East and the world.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer

The ultimate insiders view.

San Francisco Chronicle

Important [provides] unique, behind-the-scenes insights into an extraordinary series of events. Rich with lessons for the management of the inevitable global crises of the 21st century.

Denver Post

The overall impression is of a president with a great store of personal knowledge of the world, and considerable shrewdness in dealing with actors on the world stage.

The Washington Post Book World

Opens a window into the fascinating behind-the-scenes relationships, conversations, collaborations and negotiations that bridge the transition between the global geography of 1988 and that of today.

USA Today

President Bush and General Brent Scowcroft deserve high marks for the careful way the United States responded to the great events of those years. This book is their sharply focused account of the dominant issues.

The Boston Globe

George Bush was President of the United States from 1989 to 1993. He lives in Houston, Texas, and Kennebunkport, Maine.

Brent Scowcroft was National Security Advisor under Presidents Ford and Bush. He is president of The Scowcroft Group, Inc., an international consulting firm, and president of the Forum for International Policy, a nonprofit foreign policy foundation, both based in Washington, D.C. He lives in Maryland.

ALSO BY GEORGE BUSH

Looking Forward: The George Bush Story
(with Victor Gold)

ALSO BY BRENT SCOWCROFT

Defending Peace and Freedom: Toward Strategic Stability in the Year 2000 (editor)
Military Service in the United States

FIRST VINTAGE BOOKS EDITION, SEPTEMBER 1999

Copyright 1998, 2011 by George Bush and Brent Scowcroft

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Vintage Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Originally published in hardcover in the United States in a slightly different form by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, in 1998.

Vintage Books and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

The Library of Congress has cataloged the Knopf edition as follows: Bush, George.
A world transformed / by George Bush and Brent Scowcroft. 1st ed.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-307-80659-8
1. United StatesForeign relations19891993. 2. Bush, George, 1924
3. Scowcroft, Brent. I. Scowcroft, Brent. II. Title.
E881.B81998
327.73 009049dc21 98-13499

www.vintagebooks.com

v3.1

GEORGE BUSH

To my understanding and beloved family, especially Barbara, and to the superb team that was at my side

BRENT SCOWCROFT

To Jackie and Karen, the lights of my life

This book is the product of a lot of work by many people. The two of us started off thinking we would research and write the whole thing by ourselves. After all, we had lived through the momentous events we were describing and analyzing, and it was our efforts and their results that we were setting forth. But it quickly turned out that we, individually and collectively, did not remember as much as we had hoped, and what we did remember had gaps. That notwithstanding, our first draft of chapter one was over 400 pages long.

Our cry for help was answered by James McCall, who had been doing similar work for Paul Nitze. James was an invaluable addition to our writing team. He rapidly tamed and reorganized the project, and was adept not only at research, writing, and editinghelping us shape the substance of the bookbut also at working between two authors a thousand miles apart. In addition, James made sense of the thousands of boxes of documents and papers stored in College Station, Texas, awaiting the opening of the Bush Presidential Library. He was able to identify, uncover, or track down the materials that found their way into the book. He has a fine instinct for history and brought a valuable perspective, not warped by having been a participant in the events. We are deeply indebted to James.

Our editor at Knopf, Ashbel Green, has been the soul of patience, wisdom, and understanding. He has been there when we needed him, and hasnt looked over our shoulders when we required time to work things out for ourselves. We could not have asked for a better mix of help and forbearance. Closer to home, Jean Becker and Virginia Lampley managed the two of us, kept the communications lines open and productive, and prodded us whenever our enthusiasm waned. They were wise judges and counselors on every aspect of this project, unfailing and unflagging in their efforts, even when we were more than a little grumpy. Attorney Terri Lacy was responsible for putting us together with Knopf, negotiating the contract, and worrying about all legal aspects. She took a sizable burden off our shoulders. Arnold Kanter was instrumental in many ways. He helped define the scope and method of the manuscript. He was the first to explore ways to utilize the raw archives and has been a constant source of advice as we progressed.

Our appreciation as well goes to Don Wilson, director of the Bush Presidential Library Foundation, and to Dave Alsobrook, director of the Bush Presidential Library itself. Our special thanks go to Warren Finch, Mary Finch, Gary Foulk, Kathleen Dillon, and Jimmie Purvis, the National Archives team in College Station. Despite the difficult conditions their temporary quarters imposed on them, they were unfailingly courteous and helpful in ferreting out the precise documents and photos we required.

In putting together some of the major themes of the book, we were greatly assisted by Richard Haass and Condoleezza Rice, who traveled to Houston and Kennebunkport, respectively, for lengthy sessions discussing the raw materials of the text and refreshing our memory of details and events. Both have reviewed the manuscript as well, and provided useful comments and suggestions. We wish to thank them and others who were willing to devote time and energy to reading all or portions of the manuscript: Bob Blackwill, Dick Cheney, Bob Gates, Bill Hyland, John Karaagac, former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Kevin Nealer, Doug Paal, Richard North Patterson, Paul Wolfowitz, Philip Zelikow, and Bob Zoellick. Still others helped us locate materials and check facts, such as Richard Greco and Suzie Peake. There are countless people who assisted in ways too numerous to mention; we are eternally grateful. Then there are those who really did the work we describe, laboring anonymously in the trenchesmilitary, political, and diplomaticto bring to a successful conclusion this unique piece of history. Without their tireless efforts, there would have been no such history and thus no book.