Foreign policy of the George H. W. Bush administration

This article is part of a series about George H. W. Bush
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George H. W. Bush, whose term as president lasted from 1989 until 1993, had extensive experience with the United States foreign policy. Unlike his predecessor, Ronald Reagan, he downplayed vision and emphasized caution and careful management. ^{[citation needed]}He had quietly disagreed with many of Reagan's foreign policy decisions and tried to build his own policies.^[1] His main foreign policy advisors were Secretaries of State James Baker, a longtime friend, and National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft. Key geopolitical events that occurred during Bush's presidency were:^[2][3]

• The Gulf War, in which Bush led a large coalition that defeated Iraq following its Invasion of Kuwait, but allowed Saddam Hussein to remain in power.
• The United States invasion of Panama to overthrow a local dictator.
• The signing of the START I (with the Soviet Union) and START II (with Russia) treaties for nuclear disarmament.
• Victory in the Cold War over communism.
• Revolutions of 1989 and the collapse of Moscow-oriented Communism, especially in Eastern Europe
• The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, replaced by the Post-Soviet states (Russia and 14 other countries).
• German reunification in 1990, with the democratic West Germany absorbing the ex-Communist East Germany.
• The expansion of NATO to the east, starting with a united Germany.