Morton H. Halperin – författare

Noted experts examine America's power to go to war historically and recently, now that the Cold War has ended. They propose ways that the Congress and the president might develop a new working consensus for dealing with the use of military or paramilitary force in the future. This scholarly study of constitutional and statutory proscriptions, UN treaty and international obligations, and judicial restraints is essential reading for undergraduate and graduate students, law students, teachers, and professionals concerned with constitutional interpretation, the government's division of power, and war making.

The first edition of Bureaucratic Politics and Foreign Policy is one of the most successful Brookings titles of all time. This thoroughly revised version updates that classic analysis of the role played by the federal bureaucracy—civilian career officials, political appointees, and military officers—and Congress in formulating U.S. national security policy, illustrating how policy decisions are actually made. Government agencies, departments, and individuals all have certain interests to preserve and promote. Those priorities, and the conflicts they sometimes spark, heavily influence the formulation and implementation of foreign policy. A decision that looks like an orchestrated attempt to influence another country may in fact represent a shaky compromise between rival elements within the U.S. government. The authors provide numerous examples of bureaucratic maneuvering and reveal how they have influenced our international relations. The revised edition includes new examples of bureaucratic politics from the past three decades, from Jimmy Carter's view of the State Department to conflicts between George W. Bush and the bureaucracy regarding Iraq. The second edition also includes a new analysis of Congress's role in the politics of foreign policymaking.

The first edition of Bureaucratic Politics and Foreign Policy is one of the most successful Brookings titles of all time. This thoroughly revised version updates that classic analysis of the role played by the federal bureaucracy—civilian career officials, political appointees, and military officers—and Congress in formulating U.S. national security policy, illustrating how policy decisions are actually made. Government agencies, departments, and individuals all have certain interests to preserve and promote. Those priorities, and the conflicts they sometimes spark, heavily influence the formulation and implementation of foreign policy. A decision that looks like an orchestrated attempt to influence another country may in fact represent a shaky compromise between rival elements within the U.S. government. The authors provide numerous examples of bureaucratic maneuvering and reveal how they have influenced our international relations. The revised edition includes new examples of bureaucratic politics from the past three decades, from Jimmy Carter's view of the State Department to conflicts between George W. Bush and the bureaucracy regarding Iraq. The second edition also includes a new analysis of Congress's role in the politics of foreign policymaking.

A memoir of power, war, diplomacy, and dissent from a longtime participant in US national security policymaking. From the Pentagon Papers to the Nixon White House, from Vietnam and nuclear arms negotiations to civil liberties battles at the ACLU and diplomacy in the Clinton administration, Morton H. Halperin spent more than half a century involved in many of America’s most significant political and foreign policy debates. In Making a Difference, Halperin takes readers inside the institutions where major policy decisions were made, working alongside figures such as Robert McNamara, Henry Kissinger, Clark Clifford, and Madeline Albright during the Cold War and after. A young Harvard scholar who entered government expecting to stay only briefly, Halperin instead became a participant, critic, and observer in a series of influential policy debates and national security crises. Halperin recounts internal disputes over Vietnam strategy, secret bombing campaigns, nuclear arms control, Okinawa reversion, the Pentagon Papers, government surveillance, civil liberties, and the role of American democracy in international affairs. He examines how policy is shaped through bureaucratic processes, political relationships, competing priorities, and institutional conflict. This account of Washington during a period of political and international upheaval traces Halperin’s evolution from academic to policymaker while exploring his long-standing concerns about democratic accountability and constitutional rights. It offers an insider’s perspective on the development of American foreign policy and the challenges faced by those involved in shaping it.