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

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. "The United States confronts today's world with a foreign policy that is neither consistent enough to be called a policy nor adequately responsive to foreign threats and opportunities. It is instead constructed in the marketplace of interests, and not ideas, that Washington has become. As a result, it is more likely to serve special interests rather than the national interest. This has come about because the end of the Cold War, globalization, and political partisanship have created a dysfunctional policy process. This book explores this change in U.S. foreign policy, examines the roles of the primary actors, ands assesses the potential for improvement."--Book cover 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. What's changed and why it's failing Why it isn't more apparent How it really works A few case studies Why it won't change and how it might.