Although a realist in his thinking, he could be Wilsonian in his tactics. Bush’s termination of the ground war in Iraq after only four days was motivated in part by humanitarian concerns about the slaughter of Iraqi troops, as well as by an interest in not leaving Iraq so weakened that it could not balance the power of neighboring Iran.
老布什还尊重国内外制度和范式，要求美国国会授权参与海湾战争，要求联合国根据联合国宪章第七条给出决议。尽管他的思维是现实主义的，但在策略上，他是威尔逊主义的。老布什在结束伊拉克地面战争开始仅仅四天后就鸣金，部分原因是出于伊拉克军队遭屠的人道主义考虑，也有部分是出于不能让伊拉克过于孱弱以至于无法制衡相邻的伊朗的利益计算。