Henry Kissinger: Realism,Domestic Politics,and the Struggle Against Exceptionalism in American Foreign Policy

Henry Kissinger was the single most controversial diplomat of the 20th century. This article explores Kissinger's approach to the philosophy of realism in international affairs, his role in Vietnam policy making, and his most recent engagement in the debate over the Iraq War. It argues that Kissinger's realism, although philosophically consistent and having roots within his own life's experience, was always tempered by his desire to exercise influence within the American political system. Once in office under Richard Nixon and then Gerald Ford, Kissinger came to recognise how significantly domestic politics shaped American foreign policy. His involvement in the Vietnam War demonstrates this, and one lesson he took from that conflict was the hope that Americans could be persuaded to move away from their convictions about American exceptionalism and recognise the limits of American power.     

J. Covarubbias and T. Lansford (Eds.), Strategic Interests and the Middle East: Opposition or Support for U.S. Foreign Policy

ABSTRACT

The United States was at least partly culpable for the failure of denuclearisation agreements with North Korea concluded during the presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush in the 1990s and early 2000s. American failure to implement commitments in a timely manner arose from a combination of domestic and presidential politics, the constraints imposed by international partnerships, and bureaucratic structures and procedures. For its part, North Korea implemented its commitments faithfully until its leadership’s increasing disenchantment with American tardiness and perceived lack of good faith.     

Constructing NAFTA: Myth, Representation, and the Discursive Construction of U.S. Foreign Policy

The passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement in November 1993 signified the acceptance of Mexico as an equal trading partner with the United States and Canada. However, accepting Mexico as an equal partner challenged a deeply ingrained U.S. image of Mexico as inferior, childlike, dependent, and suspicious. How was it possible for the U.S. public and its congressional representatives to accept equal economic integration with a country that embodied such a negative image? Addressing this dilemma through a constructivist approach, this article argues that the existing image of Mexico remained intact. The passage of NAFTA instead resulted from a discursive construction of NAFTA that emphasized a positive U.S. self-image through American myths thereby allowing the simultaneous acceptance of Mexico as inferior and as an equal trading partner. American myths and other representational elements constructed NAFTA for the American public and created a policy success for President Clinton. This article relies on an empirical investigation of newspaper advertisements to demonstrate how myths contributed to the discursive construction of NAFTA.     

美国国会委员会与美国外交政策的制定

委员会是美国国会中的重要机构,事实上承担着美国国会的大量工作,对美国的内政外交都具有巨大的影响。本文在分析国会委员会的发展演变及其特征的基础上,对各委员会在国会外交决策过程中的地位、享有的权力以及施加影响的手段进行详细分析,最终得出结论,美国国会的大部分决策实际上是在委员会阶段完成的。     

The Growing Role of States in U.S. Foreign Policy: The Case of the State Partnership Program

States can and do play an important role in contemporary U.S. foreign policy. This article will discuss the growing role of states through an investigation of the State Partnership Program (SSP). The SSP pairs state National Guards with the militaries of other countries through U.S. military engagement programs. The state-level National Guard then becomes the primary site for implementing U.S. military engagement programs. Both a federalism and decision-making perspective, however, are unable to recognize this role. The decision-making bias of foreign policy analysis affords states a limited international role and minimal influence in shaping the policies of the government toward other countries. An implementation perspective, however, reveals a growing role of states carrying out U.S. foreign policy, including the "high politics" of national security issues. States give decisions meaning through the practice of policy implementation. A detailed case study of the Maryland–Estonia partnership illustrates how an implementation perspective can recognize a growing role of states in shaping U.S. foreign policy.