David Gergen

The recession threatens to poison US foreign relations. The Bush administration failed to capitalize on the momentum of the Gulf War and Cold War victories, and proved "far more adept at cleaning up the debris of an old world than building the framework of the new". "Unless the nation embarks upon a comprehensive program of domestic renewal, the United States within a few years could become so deeply mired in its own troubles that its politics will turn even more embittered, xenophobic and inward. The specter of neo-isolationism that raised its head in late 1991 will then be but a precursor of worse to come, as reluctance to act as a leader turns into outright refusal, and international politics becomes a bare-knuckled brawl".