The eruption of international terrorism and the raising threat of using weapons of mass destruction changes radically the contemporary security environment. A need emerges to create a new strategy of global security that would respond to new conditions. Can the American pre-emptive strike strategy meet the requirements? The article shows that it is a logically and operationally justified answer to new threats, challenges and opportunities. However, its implementation in Iraq reveals its conceptual deficiencies. What are its weaknesses and how should this American strategy be modified so that it would become an effective and internationally accepted strategic instrument of the whole international community - these are the main questions that the author of the publication is trying to answer.