This text focuses on the institutional context of policy making and the processes that take place within it. The reader learns, for example, how the President and his advisers interact in formulating policy and sees the roles played by the Congress, the joint Chiefs of Staff, and other agencies in the American government. In this thoroughly revised third edition, Nathan and Oliver take particular note of the events that have shaped the world and U.S. foreign policy since 1989. Even with the end of the Cold War, the authors see no lessening of the challenges faced by policy makers-in fact, they warn of continuing institutional problems that could lead to ineffective policy.
"A superior eclectic blend of several theories of American behaviorin an effort to `understand the American image of international reality' since 1945." -- Foreign Affairs.
"The authors skillfully utilize several methods of analysis... to support their thesis that American foreign policy has been aggressive and reckless." -- Historian.