Presidential Power and Foreign Policy

American Public

Congress

Foreign Policy Bureaucracies

White House Staff

President

Foreign Policy Power

• Created in 1947

• Members include the President, the Vice President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the director of the CIA, and Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

• The staff is led by the National Security Advisor

National Security Council (NSC)

The Foreign Policy Bureaucracy

Defense Department

State Department

CIA

NSC

• Extent of influence of a group depends on:- External factors- Group characteristics- Opposition groups

• Foreign policy does not have much electoral influence

• Policy makers often ignore public opinion

• Public often lacks knowledge

• Public is often apathetic

The Foreign Policy Bureaucracy

Bureaucratic Failure: The Bay of Pigs, Cuba, 1961

• Military chiefs promised a quick low-cost victory to drive Communists out of Cuba

• Inexperienced President Kennedy did not challenge their assessments

• Intelligence failure: a popular uprising of Cubans against Castro was expected, but most Cubans supported Castro

• Military disaster led to Kennedy public apology• Castro is still in power

Bureaucratic Success? The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1963

• Kennedy assembled a broad range of expert advisors

• Challenge and dissent was encouraged to avoid “groupthink” – social pressure to agree

• Multiple sources of intelligence were used• Outreach to disparate groups within the Soviet

Union to avoid war• Cautious approach: blockade not invasion, to

keep options open• Bargain with USSR: Castro would stay in power

but nuclear missiles would be withdrawn from both Cuba and Turkey

Congress

• The Constitution assigns Congress considerable influence in foreign policy, including the power to declare war

• During the 1950s and 1960s Congress typically deferred to the Executive Branch

• During 1970s and 1980s Congressional activism in foreign policy grew

• Congressional deference to President increased after 9/11 attacks

War Powers Act of 1973• Attempt by Congress to restrain Presidential

activism in foreign policy• Reaction to problems of the war in Vietnam:

the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, Nixon’s secret bombing of Laos and Cambodia

• Requires Congress to approve any American use of troops abroad within 60-90 days

• Requires detailed reporting to Congress of foreign policy actions by the President

• Passed over Nixon’s veto; opposed by every president since Jimmy Carter (1977-) regardless of political party

Limits on Foreign Policy Role of Congress

• Unable to act swiftly in an emergency• Lack of access to current intelligence (the

president’s daily intelligence briefing is highly classified)

• Partisan conflicts over foreign policy goals• Both parties tend to support the president

after military action is initiated• Politically, it is difficult to withhold funds from

the military in order to stop presidential foreign actions

• Disagreements about the goals and strategies of American foreign policy

• A changing foreign policy agenda• Unilateral versus multilateral action: Role of the

United Nations, European Union, G-8, etc.• Bush’s doctrine of preemptive war

Future Challenges to U.S. Foreign Policy

The preemptive war debate

• It violates the traditional American “no first strike” principle

• It requires accurate intelligence as to enemy capabilities and intentions

Intelligence failures: Clinton bombing of the factory in Sudan. No WMDs found in Iraq

• It would require unilateral action by the US• It could prevent a terrorist or nuclear attack• It would greatly expand presidential power

The United States will face problems in:

• Nuclear proliferation

• Military interventions

• Economic policy

• Globalization

• Human rights

• High cost of defense

Potential Problems in U.S. Foreign Policy

• Multilateral versus unilateral action

• Homeland security