This week's NATO summit will shape Bush legacy
Issues the alliance is grappling with -- the conflict in Afghanistan and the effort to spread democracy -- go to the heart of his agenda.
KIEV, UKRAINE — President Bush is traveling roughly 100,000 miles on eight trips overseas this year, wrestling with the intractable issues of the Middle East and a relationship with China that has grown increasingly troubled at the end of his tenure.
But perhaps none of the diplomatic meetings involving Bush will carry greater weight in setting a course lasting well beyond his presidency than when he sits this week with some of the United States' closest allies.
Bush will seek to persuade NATO allies at a summit in Bucharest, Romania, to maintain their commitment to the war in Afghanistan and to expand the alliance further into territory of the former Soviet Union.
The president arrived here Monday night at the outset of a trip that will also take him to Croatia and, on the weekend, to the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi for what is likely to be his final meeting with Vladimir Putin before the Russian president leaves office May 7.
The U.S. plan to build a missile defense network based in Poland and the Czech Republic, Washington's sponsorship and embrace of independence for Kosovo, and the potential NATO expansion have riled Russia.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, created as a post-World War II balance to the Soviet Union, is grappling with issues that go to the heart of Bush's agenda: the conflict in Afghanistan and the effort to spread democracy. Taken with the war in Iraq, they make up the tightly woven elements at the center of his foreign policy legacy.
There is no unanimity on the issues facing the alliance, suggesting that the next U.S. administration will face many of the same problems soon after inauguration day -- with another summit, marking the 60th anniversary of NATO, closing in on a new foreign policy team.
In Western Europe in particular, government leaders are facing political skepticism about their nations' military contributions in Afghanistan and are raising questions about whether the fight can be won, all feeding into broader questions about the alliance's overall mission.
Some allies also have raised questions about how far and fast to expand the alliance eastward.
As for the Europeans' role in Afghanistan, "They are not doing enough, they're not spending enough," Stephen J. Hadley, Bush's national security advisor, said Monday aboard Air Force One.
