US President George W. Bush's inaugural address, in which he declared the goal of ending tyranny around the world, represents no significant shift in US foreign policy, the Washington Post said in a report on Saturday, citing White House officials.

Instead, it was meant as a crystallization and clarification of policies that Bush is pursuing in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Middle East and elsewhere, the report said.

Neither will Bush's speech lead to any quick shift in strategy for dealing with countries such as Russia, Egypt and Pakistan, allies in the fight against terrorism whose records on human rights and democracy fall well short of the values Bush said wouldbecome the basis of relations with all countries, the report said,citing White House officials.

Bush advisers said the speech was the rhetorical institutionalization of the Bush doctrine and reflected the president's deepest convictions about the purposes behind his foreign policies, but they said it was carefully written not to tie him to an inflexible or unrealistic application of his goal ofending tyranny, the report said.

The inauguration speech Bush delivered Thursday at the Capital appeared to set the United States on a new course in foreign policy, a pivot from the focus on terrorism, which has defined Bush's presidency since the Sept. 11, 2001, to confronting tyrannyas the enemy that threatens global security.

"We will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler andevery nation: the moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right," Bush said in his speech. At another point, he said: "So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world."

Source: Xinhua