Why American Foreign Policy Fails : Unsafe at Home and Despised Abroad

This book explores the recent changes in U.S. foreign policy, examines the roles that the six primary actors (the President, the Congress, the bureaucracy, non-governmental organizations, the media and the public) play in policy decisions, and assesses the potential for improvement within this system.

When the U.S. confronts today''s world, it does so without any recognizably coherent policy approach. Foreign policy is constructed within a marketplace of ideas, resulting in confusing and sometimes contradictory directives on how best to deal with the world around us. Part of this is due to a changed global environment. The three biggest changes are the end of the Cold War, the rise of globalization, and increased partisanship within the U.S. government. However, it is also because of the unique marketplace of ideas within the U.S. that sets various actors against one another in deciding who or what influence foreign policy decisions. This book explores this change in U.S. foreign policy, examine the roles that the six primary actors (the President, the Congress, the bureaucracy, non-governmental organizations, the media and the public) play in policy decisions, and assess the potential for improvement within this system.