High Hopes, Hard Facts; The World's A Stage: His ideals are soaring, but now Bush must live and lead by his own code.(George W. Bush)

Publication: Newsweek

Publication Date: 31-JAN-05

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Byline: Fareed Zakaria

It was a speech written for the ages, and it will live in history as a powerful affirmation of American ideas and ideals. George W. Bush's second Inaugural Address was the culmination, in style and substance, of a position he has been veering toward ever since September 11, 2001: that the purpose of American foreign policy must be the expansion of liberty. It is not a new theme for an American president. Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan all spoke in similar tones and terms. Bush, however, has brought to the cause the passion of the convert. In short declarative sentences, influenced by the King James Bible and by his most eloquent predecessors, Bush used virtually his entire speech to set out the distinctively American world view: that "the best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world."

To borrow an old saw about the mission of journalism, Bush's words will "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." Democratic reformers around the world will surely take heart. Dictators will nervously ponder what it all means. This, too, is in a great American tradition. When Wilson and Roosevelt spoke out against empires, it rattled Europe's great powers. When Kennedy and Reagan spoke about freedom, it worried the juntas of Latin America and the despots of East Asia. When the Carter administration began issuing annual reports on human rights, it unnerved regimes across the world. In speaking honestly and openly about the importance and universality of freedom, America--and, to be fair, Europe--have made a difference. They have put freedom on the global agenda. Bush has aimed to push it even higher.

In doing so, however, Bush has also pushed higher on the agenda the question of American hypocrisy. I often argue with an Indian businessman friend of mine that America is unfairly singled out for scrutiny abroad. "Why didn't anyone criticize the...

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