Regional Studies Center

Regional Studies Center held a seminar for the research entitled “The Domestic Security Policy of the George W. Bush Administration”,  by Assist. Prof. Dr. Faris Turki Mahmood, on October 27, 2024.

The seminar aimed to study and analyze the internal security policy pursued by the administration of George W. Bush (2001-20008). This policy was different from what was followed by previous administrations in that it was more stringent and used repressive means to restrict and control many groups, especially minorities, and took many measures of a police nature.

The seminar consisted of three sections ‎; the first section ‎ dealt with the influence of the neoconservatives on the formulation of the internal security policy of the George W. Bush administration, and how the formulation and implementation of this policy was influenced by the intellectual constructs of the neoconservative movement and its founding fathers, especially their ideas about controlling the public and directing it in a way that suits the state’s supreme interests. The second section sheds light on the measures and legislation adopted by the US administration to increase its control over the home front and strengthen the security grip, such as the establishment of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security, as well as the establishment of bodies that aimed to prosecute, harass and threaten dissenters and opponents; while the third and final section traces the steps and measures taken by the George W. Bush administration on the ground and the reactions that resulted from them and the extent of their success or failure.