If invading Iraq is unacceptably risky, the larger doctrine of American supremacy that propels the Bush war team is potentially still more disturbing. The Bush administration recently released its chest-beating new national security doctrine, announcing that the United States is free to take preemptive action against terrorists, that no nation will ever be allowed to challenge our military dominance and that the U.S. will place its own interests above international relations. Iraq can be seen as the tactical implementation of that strategy. An invasion will establish, ex post facto, the legitimacy of American hegemonism. Once the United States successfully breaks with established norms of international behavior and carries off a unilateral act of preventive aggression without undue negative consequences, it will confer legitimacy on all subsequent acts. The first time is always the hardest: After the sword has been blooded with Iraq, it will be much easier for America to act unilaterally, and the hand-wringing and whining of our European allies and great-power rivals will fade away as they accept the reality of American dominance.

The doctrine is deeply paternalistic: Once the unruly children (the rest of the world) are disciplined, they will realize not only that resistance is futile but that Dad has their best interests at heart. As for those who continue to resist, they will have chosen sides against Good and will be dealt with accordingly.

It is a forthright and morally unambiguous doctrine, and for many enraged and fearful Americans -- and especially for Bush's far-right political base -- an attractive one. Why should we defer to the spineless, envious Europeans, the pathetic Russians, the untrustworthy Chinese or the treacherous, Israel-hating Arabs? The Cold War is over; we have no military rivals, nor even any real competitors. The terror attacks of Sept. 11 have given us not just the necessity but the moral right to expand our definition of self-defense. Going hat in hand to the "international community" is beneath us and a waste of time. What our friends and enemies alike respect is force -- whether that of our all-conquering military machine, which towers above all others the way the club-wielding ape dominated his bare-handed foes in "2001," or that of our mighty economy, the greatest generator of wealth in world history.

Neo-imperialism, then, has a potent appeal. But it may be the rashest doctrine in American history. If the Bush administration continues down the path it is on, it will alienate our allies, turn wavering states against us and increase the hatred of our enemies. Above all, neo-imperialism will make America more vulnerable, not less. The great irony of Bush's neo-imperialism is that its announced purpose is to prevent future terrorist attacks, by giving the United States a free hand to strike anywhere at any time against an insidious enemy that no longer respects borders and cannot be deterred. But in fact this policy, by breeding hatred and resentment, is certain to make future terrorist attacks more likely.

In the end, the issue goes beyond terrorism, which centuries from now we will hopefully look back on as a historical blip. As Michael Hirsh points out in an important critique of Bush's neo-imperialism in the October Foreign Affairs, Bush has failed to communicate to the world what America stands for except its own security. He has not articulated an ideal because he doesn't have one, except for "everyone should be like us." Neo-imperialism simply turns self-defense into a justification for remaking the world to our liking. It may be that the American way is the best way, but the rest of the world should be allowed to make its own decisions about that. And without altruism or the spirit of cooperation -- without charity, as a man from Nazareth said many years ago -- even our might and our money will look hollow to the rest of the world.

Americans have always believed they are exceptional. But they have leavened this sense of being a chosen people with idealism, and a sturdy, unsentimental willingness to pitch in and help others. That spirit, already eroded by the almighty market, may be at its all-time low. As many foreign observers have noted, Bush's America is a more selfish, more arrogant nation than they ever remembered it being. These are not attractive qualities, and in an increasingly interconnected world they are not even self-serving. Yes, every state must protect itself. But America stands tallest when it stoops to help those who need it -- the poor, the oppressed, the victimized -- not when it struts about the stage like Rambo. The anger and self-righteousness that America and the Bush White House felt after the terrible events of Sept. 11 is understandable. But it's time for the Bush administration to get over its moral self-intoxication and rediscover that virtue Bush extolled before he assumed the presidency: humility. For the greatest power on earth, a nation that has the power to help change the world for the better, no less is expected.

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