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US Foreign Policy

The Foreign Policy Bureaucracy

Michael E. Flynn

Kansas State University

Updated: 2021-09-13

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Lecture Overview

  1. Historical Trends

  2. What are bureaucracies?

  3. Why do they matter?

  4. The State Department

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Key Questions

  1. How did the foreign policy buraucracy change between the pre- and post-War periods?

  2. Why/How might suboptimal policy outcomes result from otherwise good actors following organizational mandates?

  3. How are actors at different positiosn in a bureaucratic hierarchy able to exercise power and influence?

  4. How has the State Department's role in foreign policymaking changed over time?

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What Are Bureaucracies?

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What Are Bureaucracies?

Executive bureaucracy before World War II

  • Very small

  • Creation of the Executive Office of the President (EOP) in 1939

  • Foreign policy activism spurs demand for personnel, expertise

  • Senior administrators up through World War II generall had little government experience

  • Bureaucracy didn't become a "career" until post-1940s

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What Are Bureaucracies?

What they do:

  • Day-to-day management and operations of the government

  • Help to formulate policies

  • Provide expertise and advice in different policy areas

  • Coordinate actions of various bureaucratic actors

  • Execute and implement policies

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What Are Bureaucracies?

Functional Differentiation:

  • The specialization of different governmental units

  • Works at different levels:

    • State Department vs Defense Department

    • Navy vs Army

    • Artillery vs Armor

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What Are Bureaucracies?

Different bureaucratic agencies

  • State Department
  • Defense Department
  • Treasury Department
  • Department of Energy
  • Department of Homeland Security
  • Department of Commerce
  • Department of Agriculture
  • US Agency for International Development
  • Department of Labor
  • FBI
  • NSA
  • Army
  • Navy
  • Air Force
  • Marine Corps
  • Coast Guard
  • National Guard
  • CIA
  • DIA
  • Customs and Border Patrol
  • US Postal Service
  • NASA
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Bureaucracy has a reputation for redundancy...

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And waste...

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Why Do Bureaucracies Matter?

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Why Do Bureaucracies Matter?

They're responsible for a lot...

  • Presidents make thousands of appointments after entering office

  • Hundreds of these relate to foreign policymaking

  • Direct presidential involvement varies

    • Personal taste

    • Big three: State, Defense, Treasury

    • Subordinates?

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Why Do Bureaucracies Matter?

Robert Lovett:

  • Undersecretary of State

  • Deputy Secretary of Defense

  • Secretary of Defense

  • Lovett was given his choice of State, Defense, or Treasury by President Kennedy.

  • To right: Robert Lovett (a Republican) is sworn in as President Truman's (a Democrat) Secretary of Defense on September 17, 1951.

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Why Do Bureaucracies Matter?

Paul Nitze:

  • Secretary of the Navy

  • Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs

  • Director of State Department Policy Planning Staff

  • Deputy Secretary of Defense

  • Principal author of NSC-68

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Why Do Bureaucracies Matter?

Power and influence

  • Principals

  • Deputies

  • Issue Area

  • Prestige

Position in bureaucratic hierarchy doesn't always match influence

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Paul Nitze
Paul Wolfowitz
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George Kennan
Robert Kennedy
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Chuck Hagel
James Mattis
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Why Do Bureaucracies Matter?

Organizational and individuals motivations and goals

  • Fulfill organization's basic operational mandates/missions

  • Advance the interests of their organization

  • Fulfill basic responsibilities of individual position

  • Advance personal interests and power

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Why Do Bureaucracies Matter?

Common Problems

  • Capture

  • Stove-piping

  • Groupthink

  • Turf battles

  • Slow adaptation

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Leon Panetta
James Clapper
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The State Department

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The State Department

The Secretary of State is the chief diplomat of the Untied States

  • Supposed to be the principal adviser to the president on foreign affairs

  • Provides expertise and information on a variety of policy questions and geographic areas

  • Responsible for embassies and diplomats around the world

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The State Department

Ambassadors

  • Position of ambassador is relatively new

  • Created in 1893

  • "Minister" was formerly the highest ranking diplomatic position for the United States

  • Ambassadorships awarded to country/region exports, but also to political allies

To right: Former US Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Matthew Barzun. Barzun also worked on President Obama's campaign.

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The State Department

Historically the primary foreign policymaking body

Secretaries of State were very influential

Prominent officeholders include:

  • Thomas Jefferson (to right)
  • James Madison
  • James Monroe
  • John Quincy Adams
  • Martin Van Buren
  • James Buchanan

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The State Department

Dean Acheson

  • Secretary of State Under President Truman

  • Epic Mustache

  • Targeted during the Red Scare by Congressional Republicans. The State Department was the subject of intense criticism by Republicans who claimed that communists had infiltrated the US government.

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William Rogers
Henry Kissinger
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Colin Powell
Donald Rumsfeld
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The State Department

State in decline

  • Basic organizational mandate

  • Organizational structure

  • Emphasized qualities of Foreign Service Officers

  • Gaps between Washington and local offices

  • Growth of alternative organizations/offices

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Lecture Overview

  1. Historical Trends

  2. What are bureaucracies?

  3. Why do they matter?

  4. The State Department

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