The mortal god to which we owe our peace and defense Page 1 of 15 © D. R. Koukal Introduction: master of all and subject to none. The Bush administration’s National Security Strategy of the United States (September 2002) reflects a Hobbesian worldview. Though in places it makes mention of a benevolent internationalism whereby the United States works with allies in defusing regional conflicts and promoting free trade, open democratic societies and human dignity, it frames this doctrine within a context of “rogue” states partnered with stateless terrorist networks bent on attacking “civilization” with weapons of mass destruction (WMD). 1 Though the document makes gestures toward building alliances to face this threat, it reserves for the United States the right to employ overwhelming military power unilaterally and preemptively against any perceived potential threat. 2 Moreover, the document claims that the United States has a duty to use its unique position of power in the world, not to press for unilateral advantage, but to create peace and stability at the global level. 3 It is precisely on these grounds that the United States invaded both Afghanistan and Iraq, with the latter action being taken against the express wishes of the United Nations Security Council. Prior to both of these conflicts, the Bush administration had already demonstrated its unwillingness to be bound to treaty obligations by walking away from both the ABM Treaty and the Kyoto Protocol. 4 By these words and deeds, this administration has moved to project the unparalleled power of the United States across the world unilaterally and without apology in a bid to stride across the globe as Leviathan, master of all and subject to none, the mortal god to which the world owes its peace and defense. 5 Though scores of commentators have drawn attention to this emerging global Leviathan, 6 none have bothered to more closely analyze the parallels between Hobbes’s