Preface to the Eighth Edition
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Part I Introduction: The Context of US Foreign Policymaking
Chapter 1 Understanding the Politics of US Foreign Policy
Introduction: The Importance of Foreign Policy
Understanding US Foreign Policy
The Changing Politics of US Foreign Policy
A Framework for Understanding US Foreign Policymaking
Politics and Uncertainty in the Twenty-First Century
Think about This
Chapter 2 The Global and Historical Context: Power, Role, and Politics on the World Stage
Introduction: The Global and Historical Context of the Contemporary Challenge
The Global Context: Patterns and Debates in US Foreign Policy
From Isolationism to Internationalism?
The Continental Era, 1776–1865
The Regional Era, 1865–1940
The Global Era, 1941–Present
Trump and Biden in a Changing World
Summary: The Global Context and the Challenge for US Foreign Policy
Think about This
Part II Government and the Policymaking Process
Chapter 3 The President and White House Leadership
Introduction: The President and the Politics of US Foreign Policy
The Paradox of Presidential Power
Formal Roles and Powers
Informal Sources of Leadership
Limits and Constraints
Uncertain Elements
The Presidency: The Person and the Office
The Person: Individual Characteristics
The Office: Presidential Staff and Advisers
Leadership from the White House
The Paradox in Practice: Patterns and Performance
Power, Issue Area, and White House Leadership
The Presidential Life Cycle and White House Leadership
White House Foreign Policy Leadership in Context
World War II and the Cold War Consensus
The Cold War Dissensus and the Struggle for White House Leadership
The Post–Cold War and Post–9/11 Years
The Trump Challenge
The Biden Approach
Summary: The Challenges of Presidential Leadership
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Chapter 4 Understanding the Foreign Policy Bureaucracy: The Department of State
Introduction: The Foreign Policy Bureaucracy and the Department of State
Understanding Bureaucracy
Bureaucratic Size
Bureaucratic Complexity
Historical Development of the Bureaucracy
The Department of State at Home and Abroad
The Functions of the Department of State
Bureaucratic Structure and Process
Foreign Aid and Public Diplomacy
The Foreign Service Subculture
Role and Influence: The Decline of State
Increasing Importance of International Affairs
Rise of American Power
Expansion of the Foreign Policy Bureaucracy
The Global Communications Revolution
Increasing Reliance on Force
Increasing Importance of International Economics
Consequences for Presidential Reliance on State
The Secretary of State
The Future?
Think about This
Chapter 5 Understanding the Foreign Policy Bureaucracy: The Department of Defense
Introduction: The Department of Defense
The Nature of the Modern Military Establishment
The Defense Department: Functions over Time
Greater Military Unification and Specialization
Large, Permanent Military
Expansion in Bureaucratic Size and Scope
Organizational Structure and Process
The Goldwater-Nichols Reforms
A More Efficient but Complex Organizational Process
Procedural and Structural Challenges
The Modern Military Subculture(s)
Issues in Military Advice and Civil-Military Relations
Military Transformation, Rumsfeld, and Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11
Obama’s Wars
The Trump Tightrope
Into the Biden Administration
Civil-Military Relations: An Enduring Concern
The DOD and the Challenges of US Military Power
Ways of Warfare
Coordination Challenges
Budgets and Personnel
Addressing New Threats and Challenges
Conclusion
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Chapter 6 Understanding the Foreign Policy Bureaucracy: The Intelligence Community
The Purposes and Activities of Intelligence
Eyes and Ears: Collecting and Analyzing Information
Shield: Counterintelligence and the Protection of Secrets
Sword: Covert Operations
The Major Intelligence Organizations
Intelligence Organizations of the Defense Department
Non-DOD Organizations
The CIA, the ODNI, and Intelligence Coordination since World War II
Patterns in the Intelligence Process
Coordination Problems
Producer–Consumer Problems
Variation in Intelligence Success
The CIA and Covert Operations
The “Good Ol’ Days”
The “Fall” and Reform during the 1970s
Resurgence in the 1980s
Adjusting to the Post–Cold War and Post-9/11 Era
The Intelligence Community and US Foreign Policymaking
Think about This
Chapter 7 Managing the Foreign Policy Bureaucracy: The National Security Council System
Organizing and Managing the Policy Process
The President’s Orientation, Agenda, and Level of Involvement
Organization of the Policymaking Process
The National Security Council System
The Origins of the NSC System
Changing Patterns in the NSC
The Evolving Nature and Role of the NSC System
The Early NSC as Advisory Body, 1947–1960
The Rise of the NSC Adviser and Staff, 1961–1968
The NSC Adviser and Staff Ascendant, 1969–1988
The Contemporary NSC Model, 1989–Present
The NSC System and Presidential Management in Perspective
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Chapter 8 The Foreign Economic Bureaucracy and the National Economic Council
US Foreign Economic Policy in Context
Relevant Governmental Agencies
Executive Departments
Other Agencies
EOP Agencies
Managing the Foreign Economic Bureaucracy
Presidential Attention and Knowledge
Foreign Economic Policy Coordination during the Cold War
The NEC and the High Politics of International Economics
Origins
Robert Rubin and the Transition
The NEC in Operation
The NEC and Foreign Economic Policymaking since the Clinton Administration
The NEC under George W. Bush
Foreign Economic Policymaking and the Obama NEC
The Trump Administration and (Lack of) Coordination in Foreign Economic Policymaking
Foreign Economics and the Uncertain Future of Presidential Power
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Chapter 9 Congress and Interbranch Politics
The Context of Congressional Foreign Policymaking
The Constitutional Foundation of Foreign Policy
The Courts, the Congress, and the Presidency
Congressional Actors and Avenues of Influence
Historical Patterns of Interbranch Relations on Foreign Policy
Presidential Leadership in the Cold War Era
The Post-Vietnam Congressional Resurgence
Understanding Congressional Reassertiveness
Congress after the Cold War
Polarization and Partisanship
Divided Government
The Politics of Threat
Impact on Congressional Foreign Policymaking
Congressional Behavior in Four Policy Areas
The War Powers
Advice on and Consent to Appointments and Treaties
The Power of the Purse and the Power to Make Laws
The Power of Oversight and Investigation
Congress and the Politics of Foreign Policy
Think about This
Chapter 10 Explaining the Politics and Processes of Foreign Policymaking
Context: The Policymaking Process
Explaining Policymaking
The Rational Actor Ideal
Groupthink
Governmental Politics
Organizational Process
Interbranch Politics
Summary: Understanding Foreign Policy Decisions
Patterns of Foreign Policymaking
Presidential Politics
Bureaucratic Politics
Interbranch Politics
A Note on Crises
The Complex Reality of Policymaking
Think about This
Part III The Society and Domestic Politics
Chapter 11 The Public and Foreign Policy
The Impact of Public Opinion
The Traditional Wisdom
The New Consensus: A More Complex and Consequential Public
Understanding Public Opinion
Elite, Attentive, and Mass Publics
A Range of “Opinion”
Impact on Foreign Policy
Major Patterns in Public Opinion
Political Ideology and Foreign Policy Orientations
The Cold War Years of Anti-Communism and the Liberal-Conservative Consensus
The Post-Vietnam Fragmentation and Dissensus
Fragmentation, Confusion, and Reorientation?
American Political Culture and National Style
Innocence, Benevolence, and Exceptionalism
Foreign Policy Implications
Public Opinion and Foreign Policymaking
Think about This
Chapter 12 Interest Groups and Foreign Policy
Contemporary Political Participation
Interest Groups and Social Movements: Origins and Development
Influence Strategies in Group Politics
The Evolution of Group Politics in US Foreign Policy
Interest Group Politics during the Cold War
Interest Group Politics after Vietnam
Collapse of the Foreign Policy Establishment
Expansion of Group Politics
Continuation of the Military–Industrial–Scientific Infrastructure
Think about This
Chapter 13 The Media and Foreign Policy
Conventional Wisdom and Complex Reality
Understanding Sources and Coverage of the News
Sources of News
Contemporary News Coverage
News and Foreign Policy since World War II
Cold War Coverage
Post–Vietnam War Coverage
Coverage after the Cold War
The Media and Foreign Policy Politics
Characteristics of the News Business
Factors Shaping News Coverage
Media, Politics, and the Policy Process
Conclusions on the Media and Foreign Policy
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Part IV Conclusion
Chapter 14 Patterns, Processes, and Foreign Policymaking
Understanding US Foreign Policy since World War II
Politics and Patterns
Leadership in US Foreign Policymaking
The Context of Foreign Policy Leadership
The Patterns of Foreign Policy Leadership
Conclusion: The Future of US Foreign Policymaking
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References
Index
