Setting a Course: Congressional Foreign Policy Entrepreneurs In Post-World War II U.S. Foreign Policy

"Congressional foreign policy entrepreneurs" are those legislators who initiate their own foreign policy agendas. These individuals seek to frame policy discussions and mobilize public and interest group interest; to direct congressional agendas toward specific foreign policy issues; to structure and influence the formulation of foreign policies by the executive branch; to revise, refocus, or reformulate foreign policies; to generate alternative and replacement foreign policies; and to fill policy vacuums with their own preferred foreign policies. This paper examines the evolution and impact of such entrepreneurs across the periods of the Cold War Consensus (1946–1967), the Cold War Dissensus (1968–1989), and the Post-Cold War (1990–2000). The paper first provides an overview of the concept of foreign policy entrepreneurs. It then turns to case studies of entrepreneurial initiatives from three prolific entrepreneurs whose careers span the post-World War II era: Senators Jacob Javits, Edward Kennedy, and Christopher Dodd. Together, the overview and cases shed light on the different avenues and activities that entrepreneurs use to address their preferred issues and the impact entrepreneurs have on policy, as well as highlight changes in both over time.     

U.S. Foreign Aid and Foreign Policy: Building Strong Relationships by Doing It Right!

Foreign aid policies cannot be more successful than their implementation, which inherently involves people and institutions. But people have their own interests and cultural frameworks, and institutions are inevitably grounded in culture and politics. Inattention to the agendas of individuals involved on both sides of foreign aid to Central and Eastern Europe played a major role in its shortcomings. A recent court decision holding two Harvard university scholars guilty of defrauding the U.S. government while running a flagship project to reform the Russian economy underscores the pitfalls in outsourcing traditional functions of government to small, well-connected groups that are not fully accountable in serving the public interest. Drawing on the author's experience studying informal systems and networks over several decades, this article illuminates the importance of foreign policy and aid relationships—how they are set up, who wins and who loses, and how their lack of accountability can contribute to the derailment of nation-building and constructive relations among countries.     

The New U.S. Human Rights Policy: A Radical Departure

The United States, as the most powerful state and as the self-appointed champion of human rights, has a profound impact on the way human rights norms are interpreted and applied throughout the world. The human rights foreign policy of President George W. Bush can be distinguished from the policies of other administrations in three crucial respects: (1) In identifying the values that Americans can and should promote abroad, it avoids human rights terminology and scorns multilateral institutions, and instead looks to divine inspiration; (2) in place of well-recognized human rights norms, it uses a concept of "dignity" that is narrow and self-serving; and (3) it engages in "exceptional exceptionalism," continually holding others to standards that it does not apply to itself. This essay contends that the new U.S. human rights foreign policy drains human rights of its core meaning and limits its potential impact. Moreover, the United States lacks moral authority to act on human rights grounds as long as it fails to prioritize human rights explicitly and to uphold the same standards to which it holds other nations accountable.     

关于越战期间美国老挝政策的国外成果研究综述

冷战初期,老挝本不是美国东南亚政策的重点问题,但随着越南战争的爆发,美国对老挝的重视程度逐步加深,直至派出地面部队进行干涉。这一问题值得深思。国外针对该领域的研究已硕果累累,但国内的相关研究才刚刚起步。对国外相关研究成果的整理和推介,应有助于推动国内学者在该领域的研究取得更新突破。     

The Role of Ethnic Interest Groups in U.S. Foreign Policy: The Case of the Cuban American National Foundation

The role and range of activities of ethnic interest groups in U.S. foreign policy has received relatively little scholarly attention, though in the wake of the Cold War analysis of their activities has increased. The case of the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) during the 1980s suggests, however, that ethnic interest group activity is not new and may be far more complex than our standard conceptualizations allow. We review the literature on the role of ethnic interest groups in U.S. foreign policy and assemble some common assumptions and arguments about their origins, roles and relations with the government, and the conditions that favor their success. Then we examine origins of CANF, its web of relationships with government even during the Cold War, and its role as a near co-executor of policy. We conclude by assessing what the CANF case suggests about standard views of the roles of at least some ethnic interest groups in the process of making U.S. foreign policy, including the need to see how the state may try to use and sponsor such groups to further its policy goals.     

When and How Parliaments Influence Foreign Policy: The Case of Turkey's Iraq Decision

Turkey's decision on its role in the Iraq war in 2003 illustrates the power—and limits—of parliaments as actors in foreign policy. Traditionally, assemblies are not seen as important players in the foreign policies of parliamentary democracies. Instead, cabinets are generally considered the chief policymaking authorities. If the government enjoys a parliamentary majority, legislatures typically support the cabinet, if they are brought into the process at all. The March 1, 2003 vote by the Turkish parliament to not allow the United States to use Turkey as a base for the Iraq invasion challenges this conventional wisdom on parliamentary influence (in addition to many interest-based explanations of foreign policy). This paper examines this decision in the context of the role of parliaments in foreign policies and explores the relationships between parliamentary influence, leadership, intraparty politics, and public opinion.     

Looking Beyond the National Level: Foreign Direct Investment Attraction in U.S. States

International relations scholars need to look beyond the national level because U.S. states and governors are increasingly important actors in world politics. One way to look at their international activities is by examining the ways in which U.S. states seek to attract foreign direct investment (FDI), just one research puzzle at the nexus of international relations and U.S. state politics, two fields that rarely talk to one another. After pointing out the gaps within theories from international relations and international political economy, this paper describes the evolving global roles of both U.S. states and governors and shows how U.S. states attract FDI through the use of their international offices and governor-led overseas missions. Empirical findings indicate that U.S. states' international offices and a higher level of economic interdependence help states attract FDI, and the paper argues that extension of institutional approaches from IPE may be valuable for future research about the international capabilities of subnational governments and their leaders.     

The Confluence of Domestic and International Interests: U.S. Policy Toward Cuba, 1998–2001

This article examines the confluence of forces at work to shape U.S. policy toward Cuba since the late 1990s. Our approach examines four key factors involved in policymaking toward Cuba in this period: (1) the entry of new interest groups into the Cuba policy process and an "entrepreneurial" Congress; (2) the executive's constitutionally based interests; (3) bureaucratic interests; and (4) pressure from outside the United States. We examine U.S.–Cuba policy by describing each determinant in isolation and then by looking at the dynamic interaction among them, showing how they are linked together. In doing so, we argue that an analysis including multiple factors better explains U.S. policy toward Cuba than one that focuses on a single factor such as the power of the Cuban-American community.     

俄罗斯对外政策中的地缘经济因素

后冷战时期，俄罗斯地缘政治潜力下降，促使其对外政策中地缘经济战略凸现。地缘经济战略中的能源外交成为俄对外政策的重点。俄地缘经济战略的实施使其经济从解体后的萧条中复苏，但其也存在着不可忽视的变数。随着世界政治经济格局的变化，俄对外政策中地缘政治与地缘经济因素互动着，这成为后冷战时期俄罗斯对外政策的特点。     

From De-Europeanisation to Anti-Western Populism: Turkish Foreign Policy in Flux

ABSTRACT

Recent Turkish foreign policy (TFP) under the successive AKP governments has seen different populist turns. A clear distinction can be made between the thin and thick populisms of TFP, based on the status of the West. The first decade of AKP rule, when foreign policy was thinly populist, was characterised by steady de-Europeanisation, increasing engagement with regional issues and a decentring of Turkey’s Western orientation. The turn toward thick populism has been characterised by anti-Westernist discourses in which the West is resituated as the ‘other’ of Turkish political identity.     

The Anglo-Protestant Basis of U.S. Foreign Policy

U.S. foreign policy thinking is based ultimately on the particular historical experience and cultural legacy of the American founding, and at the very base of that founding is the preeminence of Anglo-Protestantism. The religious heritage of the United States, a sixteenth century blend of a theological reformation and the rise of modernity in the Enlightenment, has endowed American politics with a predisposition for egalitarian, anti-hierarchical, and contractual forms, and that disposition applies as well to foreign affairs. The syntax, but not the content, of Anglo-Protestantism shapes basic attitudes particularly when political elites face crisis situations, but it is institutionalized in government and society at all levels. Six examples from the post-World War II period illustrate the case.     

Ethics, Foreign Policy, and Liberal Wars: The Role of Restraint in Moral Decision Making

Can morality be a basis for making foreign policy? What happens when it is? The dangers in using morality to justify violence are discussed in the light of the just war tradition and liberalism. An ethical case for the importance of restraint in moral decision making, especially with regard to unnecessary but desirable wars within liberalist approaches to foreign policy, is presented.     

美国国家安全委员会在美对外和对华政策中的作用

美国国家安全委员会实际上包括国家安全委员会本身、国家安全委员会工作班子及其负责人国家安全事务助理.它的演变可分为作为咨询机构的早期阶段、作用膨胀阶段和重新确定以发挥协调作用为主的阶段.国家安全委员会在美对外政策中的主要作用有七项,其对华政策部分的主要作用包括参与制定对华政策、国家安全事务助理在中美关系的关键时刻作为特使访华、参加中美关系中的危机管理等.     

印度国大党联合政府外交抉择初探

印度国大党在 2 0 0 4年的印度大选中获胜并为首组成“团结进步联盟”联合政府 ,新政府的外交纲领和政策走向引起国际社会的广泛关注。对新政府执政初期的外交政策进行观察 ,可看出它与前届政府相比既有明显的连续性 ,也有某些微妙的变化 ,这体现在某些重要的双边关系及对重大国际问题的某些看法上。但即使新政府强调外交的新面貌 ,但“变”与“不变”应是相对的 ,宣称的新特征目前仍主要体现为姿态 ,不少制约性因素将继续发挥作用。因此 ,需进一步密切关注国大党联合政府的外交政策、尤其是印美关系和中印关系的发展走向。     

美国对外政策中的文化规范功能

冷战结束后 ,文化在国际关系和对外政策中的作用受到学者们的普遍关注。本文从文化的规范功能的角度出发 ,分析美国对外政策中的道义与利益及其关系。作者认为 ,文化的规范功能在对外政策中表现为文化限定了国家对外政策可选择的范围 ,只有符合或至少不悖于国家文化价值观的对外政策才会被社会民众所接受。对于美国这样一个既有浓厚的宗教信仰传统 ,又具有讲求实效的务实精神的国家 ,文化的规范功能在美国对外政策中体现为理想主义与现实主义的结合。理想主义为美国的对外政策赋予道义上的目标和意义 ,现实主义使道义目标在实施中符合美国的现实利益 ,美国历史上最成功的对外政策就是道义与利益的完美结合。     

The Evolution of Saudi Foreign Policy and the Role of Decision-making Processes and Actors

Abstract

Saudi Arabia has witnessed a centralisation of power in the office of the deputy crown prince, which has amounted to a shift in decision-making from consensual and deliberative to swift and adventurous, most markedly in foreign policy. This centralisation is coupled with an increase in institutionalisation. A new decision-making pattern and rising Iranian power in the region have affected the evolution of Saudi foreign policy. The Saudi crown prince’s strict handling of Shia dissidents acknowledges the perceived extension of the Iranian threat to internal security. The relationship between these two princes and Saudi political competition with Iran will affect the evolution of Saudi foreign policy in a critical manner in the future.     

Five Focuses of U.S. Foreign Policy

The U.S. Presidential campaign in 2004 revealed a phenomenon of high “polarization“ in American society, and it also exposed the sharp competition between the two political forces--liberal and conservative. Finally more of the constituency voted for Bush, hence Mr. Bush won re-election. This has not only changed the Bush family‘s fate of “winning a war but losing election,“ but also helped Bush clean up his psychological shadow of his “presidency“ decided by the Supreme Court in the last general election. As a “wartime president, undoubtedly Bush will become greater political confidence for his second term.……     

Five Focuses of U. S. Foreign Policy

The U.S.Presidential campaign in2004revealed a phenomenonof high"polarization"in American society,and it also exposed thesharp competition between the two political forces liberal and con-servative.Finally more of the constituency voted for Bush,hence Mr.Bush won re-election.This has not only changed the Bush family's fateof"winning a war but losing election,"but also helped Bush clean uphis psychological shadow of his"presidency"decided by the SupremeCourt in the last general election.As …     

Linking Public Opinion and Foreign Policy in Russia

ABSTRACT

Empirical studies in democracies have revealed some degree of causal relationship between public opinion and foreign policy. A look at the relationship between the evolution of Russian foreign policy priorities, as evidenced in the Foreign Policy Concepts (2000, 2008, 2013 and 2016), and public opinion regarding foreign policy measured from 1997 to 2018 shows significant shifts in perceptions of the nation’s international image. The amity/enmity feelings towards others can be explained as responses to key international events, endorsing the thesis of a rational and reactive public. Overall, public opinion and the official policy line in Russia move in the same direction.