BUREAUCRACY Bureaucratic Politics and Foreign Policy

415 Pages·2007·3.34 MB·English

by  Peter Lindeman

Morton H. Halperin
and
Priscilla A. Clapp
with
Arnold Kanter
Bureaucratic
Politics
and
Foreign Policy
Second Edition
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Bureaucratic Politics
and Foreign Policy
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second edition
Bureaucratic Politics
and Foreign Policy
Morton H. Halperin
Priscilla A. Clapp
with
Arnold Kanter
brookings institution press
Washington,D.C.
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about brookings
The Brookings Institution is a private nonprofit organization devoted to research,
education,and publication on important issues ofdomestic and foreign policy.Its
principal purpose is to bring the highest quality independent research and analysis to bear
on current and emerging policy problems.Interpretations or conclusions in Brookings
publications should be understood to be solely those ofthe authors.
Copyright © 2006
the brookings institution
1775 Massachusetts Avenue,N.W.,Washington,D.C.20036
www.brookings.edu
All rights reserved.No part ofthis publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means without permission in writing from the Brookings Institution Press.
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication data
Halperin,Morton H.
Bureaucratic politics and foreign policy / Morton H.Halperin,Priscilla A.Clapp.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13:978-0-8157-3409-3 (pbk.:alk.paper)
ISBN-10:0-8157-3409-3 (pbk.:alk.paper)
1. United States—Foreign relations administration. I.Clapp,Priscilla.II.Title.
JZ1480.H35 2006
327.73—dc22 2006026348
2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1
The paper used in this publication meets minimum requirements ofthe
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence ofPaper for
Printed Library Materials:ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Typeset in Minion
Composition by OSP,Inc.
Arlington,Virginia
Printed by R.R.Donnelley
Harrisonburg,Virginia
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Contents
Preface vii
1 The ABM Puzzle:An Introduction to 1
Politics inside Government
part i: interests and participants
2 National Security Interests 9
3 Organizational Interests 25
4 Domestic Politics and Presidential Interests 62
5 Interests,Faces,and Stands 84
part ii: decisions
6 Initiative and Rules 99
7 Planning a Decision Strategy 119
8 Information and Arguments 139
9 Maneuvers to Affect Information 164
10 Uses of the Press 181
11 Involving the President 204
12 Influence and Decisions 226
part iii: actions
13 Decisions and Implementation 243
14 Actions in the Field 273
15 Presidential Control 292
v
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vi / contents
part iv: congress
16 Congress and Bureaucratic Politics 313
part v: conclusions
17 Back to ABM:Some Tentative Answers 347
18 A Complicated Reality 361
References and Bibliography 365
Index 379
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Preface
T
he purpose ofthis book is to help readers understand the
process by which decisions are made and actions are taken by the U.S.govern-
ment in the field of national security and foreign policy. The views of its
authors have been inspired and influenced by a variety ofexperiences in the
executive branch—in the Defense Department,in the State Department,and
on the National Security Council—over a period ofnearly forty years.Mor-
ton Halperin also has spent many years working with Congress.However,the
book is decidedly not autobiographical.Rather,it is based predominantly on
the published works of other participants in and observers of the national
security bureaucracy.An extensive bibliography of these books and manu-
scripts is included at the end ofthe book.
The reader will find a number of long quotations.They are meant to be
read.In many cases they are illuminating descriptions ofevents by a partici-
pant; in a few cases they are analyses of key issues, stated clearly and suc-
cinctly.They are essential to the book’s central themes.Read them.
When this book was first published by the Brookings Institution more
than thirty years ago, it was set firmly in the context of the cold war. The
world has changed dramatically since then,not only through the realignment
ofpower,alliances,and ideology,but also in how technological advances have
transformed the way we communicate and conduct business,both nationally
and internationally. It is not surprising that those evolutions have affected
some ofthe structures ofnational security and foreign policy decisionmak-
ing in the U.S.government and therefore some ofthe propositions advanced
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viii / preface
in the original book.Amazingly,however,the original book’s thesis remains
essentially valid today as a tool for explaining how bureaucracy affects policy
decisions and their implementation.
This version of Bureaucratic Politics and Foreign Policy is thus largely a
reaffirmation ofits predecessor,incorporating new materials drawn from the
events of the intervening thirty years.We have revised the sections of the
book dealing with those government structures and processes that have
evolved,and we discuss other significant players that have emerged with the
changing policy environment. Most important,a new section has been added
to reflect the expanding role ofCongress in the decision process and the com-
plex nature ofbureaucratic structures and rules on Capitol Hill.
In addition to the expanding role ofCongress,several historical develop-
ments warrant special mention here.First is the degree to which humanitar-
ian values have assumed greater prominence and weight in the foreign policy
process, affecting policy structures, players, and arguments. Second is the
impact of the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 (the Defense Reorganization
Act) on the role of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in national security decisions.
Third is the expansion of the size and role of the White House executive
offices—the National Security Council,the new Office ofHomeland Security,
and the Office ofthe Vice President—and the impact ofthat expansion on the
president’s role in the policy process.Fourth is the number ofadditional sig-
nificant actors in the foreign policy process,including essentially domestic
agencies and departments that have developed international concerns,new
agencies like Homeland Security,and new bureaus in the State Department
and Defense Department and nongovernmental organizations.And finally,we
must acknowledge the degree to which new technology has transformed com-
munications within the bureaucracy;communications between Washington
and overseas missions;communications between governments;the influence,
nature,and role ofthe press;and the sheer volume ofreal-time information
available to the U.S.government and general public.
We remain grateful to those who provided assistance to us in preparing the
first edition,as explained by Morton H.Halperin in the original preface:
More ofthis book than I care to acknowledge was taught to me by two of
my professors:Warner Schilling (under whom I studied at Columbia
College in 1956–57) and H.Bradford Westerfield (Yale University,
1958–59).My interest in the subject was rekindled by the formation at
Harvard in 1966 ofthe “May Group,”which met from time to time to
discuss the role ofbureaucracy in the making ofnational security policy.
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preface / ix
I learned much from the members ofthat group,which included Gra-
ham T.Allison,Joseph L.Bower,Fred C.Ikle,William W.Kaufman,
Andrew W.Marshall,Ernest R.May,Richard E.Neustadt,Don K.Price,
and Henry S.Rowen.
In July 1966 I went to work in the government,intending to stay for
one year as a “participant-observer”;I stayed for nearly three,but quickly
lost my status as “observer.”I did,however,learn much about how the
bureaucracy functions and about the obligations and responsibilities ofa
middle-level in-and-outer.My greatest debt is to the late John T.
McNaughton,in memory ofwhom this book is dedicated.McNaughton
was killed tragically in an airplane disaster in August 1967 just as he was
preparing to move from his post as Assistant Secretary ofDefense for
International Security Affairs to become Secretary ofthe Navy.From
McNaughton I learned much about how to operate effectively while
maintaining one’s integrity and concentrating on important issues.
I learned also from the two men who served as Secretary ofDefense
while I was in the Pentagon—Robert S.McNamara and Clark Clifford—
from my two other bosses,Paul C.Warnke and Henry A.Kissinger,and
from numerous colleagues in the federal government,among them
Philip Farley,Leslie C.Gelb,Haakon Lindjord,Winston Lord,Richard C.
Steadman,Frederick C.Wyle,and Adam Yarmolinsky.
In the years since we collaborated at Brookings on the book’s first edition,
we have both accumulated much more experience inside government.While
the intellectual structure ofthe book is still essentially academic,its proposi-
tions are now even more informed by firsthand experience.We are grateful to
the many dedicated public officials with whom we practiced the art ofpoli-
cymaking in the bureaucracy. We also would like to thank Denis McDonough
and Scott Lilly for their help reviewing the chapter on Congress.Finally,we
offer special thanks to Michael Fuchs for research assistance on this edition
and to Arnold Kanter for his important contributions to the first edition and
for carefully reviewing portions ofthe revised text.