White House Warriors: How the National Security Council Transformed the American Way of War

White House Warriors: How the National Security Council Transformed the American Way of War

Author: John Gans

Publisher: Liveright Publishing

Published: 2019-05-14

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 1631494570

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This revelatory history of the elusive National Security Council shows how staffers operating in the shadows have driven foreign policy clandestinely for decades. When Michael Flynn resigned in disgrace as the Trump administration’s national security advisor the New York Times referred to the National Security Council as “the traditional center of management for a president’s dealings with an uncertain world.” Indeed, no institution or individual in the last seventy years has exerted more influence on the Oval Office or on the nation’s wars than the NSC, yet until the explosive Trump presidency, few Americans could even name a member. With key analysis, John Gans traces the NSC’s rise from a collection of administrative clerks in 1947 to what one recent commander-in-chief called the president’s “personal band of warriors.” A former Obama administration speechwriter, Gans weaves extensive archival research with dozens of news-making interviews to reveal the NSC’s unmatched power, which has resulted in an escalation of hawkishness and polarization, both in Washington and the nation at large.


Book Synopsis White House Warriors: How the National Security Council Transformed the American Way of War by : John Gans

Download or read book White House Warriors: How the National Security Council Transformed the American Way of War written by John Gans and published by Liveright Publishing. This book was released on 2019-05-14 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This revelatory history of the elusive National Security Council shows how staffers operating in the shadows have driven foreign policy clandestinely for decades. When Michael Flynn resigned in disgrace as the Trump administration’s national security advisor the New York Times referred to the National Security Council as “the traditional center of management for a president’s dealings with an uncertain world.” Indeed, no institution or individual in the last seventy years has exerted more influence on the Oval Office or on the nation’s wars than the NSC, yet until the explosive Trump presidency, few Americans could even name a member. With key analysis, John Gans traces the NSC’s rise from a collection of administrative clerks in 1947 to what one recent commander-in-chief called the president’s “personal band of warriors.” A former Obama administration speechwriter, Gans weaves extensive archival research with dozens of news-making interviews to reveal the NSC’s unmatched power, which has resulted in an escalation of hawkishness and polarization, both in Washington and the nation at large.

Running the World

Running the World

Author: David Rothkopf

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Published: 2009-04-28

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 0786736003

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Never before in the history of mankind have so few people had so much power over so many. The people at the top of the American national security establishment, the President and his principal advisors, the core team at the helm of the National Security Council, are without question the most powerful committee in the history of the world. Yet, in many respects, they are among the least understood. A former senior official in the Clinton Administration himself, David Rothkopf served with and knows personally many of the NSC's key players of the past twenty-five years. In Running the World he pulls back the curtain on this shadowy world to explore its inner workings, its people, their relationships, their contributions and the occasions when they have gone wrong. He traces the group's evolution from the final days of the Second World War to the post-Cold War realities of global terror -- exploring its triumphs, its human dramas and most recently, what many consider to be its breakdown at a time when we needed it most. Drawing on an extraordinary series of insider interviews with policy makers including Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Henry Kissinger, senior officials of the Bush Administration, and over 130 others, the book offers unprecedented insights into what must change if America is to maintain its unprecedented worldwide leadership in the decades ahead.


Book Synopsis Running the World by : David Rothkopf

Download or read book Running the World written by David Rothkopf and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2009-04-28 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Never before in the history of mankind have so few people had so much power over so many. The people at the top of the American national security establishment, the President and his principal advisors, the core team at the helm of the National Security Council, are without question the most powerful committee in the history of the world. Yet, in many respects, they are among the least understood. A former senior official in the Clinton Administration himself, David Rothkopf served with and knows personally many of the NSC's key players of the past twenty-five years. In Running the World he pulls back the curtain on this shadowy world to explore its inner workings, its people, their relationships, their contributions and the occasions when they have gone wrong. He traces the group's evolution from the final days of the Second World War to the post-Cold War realities of global terror -- exploring its triumphs, its human dramas and most recently, what many consider to be its breakdown at a time when we needed it most. Drawing on an extraordinary series of insider interviews with policy makers including Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Henry Kissinger, senior officials of the Bush Administration, and over 130 others, the book offers unprecedented insights into what must change if America is to maintain its unprecedented worldwide leadership in the decades ahead.

Fateful Decisions

Fateful Decisions

Author: Karl Inderfurth

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 378

ISBN-13: 9780195159653

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The National Security Council is the most important formal institution inthe government of the United States for the creation and implementation offoreign and defense policy. The Council's four principal members - thePresident, Vice President, Secretary of State, and Secretary of Defense - areresponsible for incredibly vast decisions of war and peace, diplomacy,international trade, and covert operations. Yet, despite its obvious importance,the NSC has been subject to relatively little scholarly scrutiny, and remainsmisunderstood by most IR students. This edited collection, built upon the firstedition originally published under the title Decisions of the Highest Order atBrooks-Cole, presents a collection of seminal articles, essays, and documentsdrawn from a variety of sources, that will offer revealing coverage of keytopics such as the rise of the National Security Adviser to a position ofprominence, key challenges to the NSC, and the role of the NSC in a post-ColdWar environment.


Book Synopsis Fateful Decisions by : Karl Inderfurth

Download or read book Fateful Decisions written by Karl Inderfurth and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2004 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The National Security Council is the most important formal institution inthe government of the United States for the creation and implementation offoreign and defense policy. The Council's four principal members - thePresident, Vice President, Secretary of State, and Secretary of Defense - areresponsible for incredibly vast decisions of war and peace, diplomacy,international trade, and covert operations. Yet, despite its obvious importance,the NSC has been subject to relatively little scholarly scrutiny, and remainsmisunderstood by most IR students. This edited collection, built upon the firstedition originally published under the title Decisions of the Highest Order atBrooks-Cole, presents a collection of seminal articles, essays, and documentsdrawn from a variety of sources, that will offer revealing coverage of keytopics such as the rise of the National Security Adviser to a position ofprominence, key challenges to the NSC, and the role of the NSC in a post-ColdWar environment.

Presidential Command

Presidential Command

Author: Peter W. Rodman

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2009-01-06

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 0307271285

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An official in the Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and both Bush administrations, Peter W. Rodman draws on his firsthand knowledge of the Oval Office to explore the foreign-policy leadership of every president from Nixon to George W. Bush. This riveting and informative book about the inner workings of our government is rich with anecdotes and fly-on-the-wall portraits of presidents and their closest advisors. It is essential reading for historians, political junkies, and for anyone in charge of managing a large organization.


Book Synopsis Presidential Command by : Peter W. Rodman

Download or read book Presidential Command written by Peter W. Rodman and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2009-01-06 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An official in the Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and both Bush administrations, Peter W. Rodman draws on his firsthand knowledge of the Oval Office to explore the foreign-policy leadership of every president from Nixon to George W. Bush. This riveting and informative book about the inner workings of our government is rich with anecdotes and fly-on-the-wall portraits of presidents and their closest advisors. It is essential reading for historians, political junkies, and for anyone in charge of managing a large organization.

Keepers of the Keys

Keepers of the Keys

Author: John Prados

Publisher: William Morrow

Published: 1991

Total Pages: 664

ISBN-13:

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The true story of how the National Security Council was transformed from a small advisory board under Truman, virtually to supplant the State Department under Nixon, and then to conduct covert, illegal operations under Ronald Reagan.


Book Synopsis Keepers of the Keys by : John Prados

Download or read book Keepers of the Keys written by John Prados and published by William Morrow. This book was released on 1991 with total page 664 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The true story of how the National Security Council was transformed from a small advisory board under Truman, virtually to supplant the State Department under Nixon, and then to conduct covert, illegal operations under Ronald Reagan.

National Security Entrepreneurs and the Making of American Foreign Policy

National Security Entrepreneurs and the Making of American Foreign Policy

Author: Vincent Boucher

Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published: 2020-11-12

Total Pages: 426

ISBN-13: 0228004284

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Since the advent of the contemporary US national security apparatus in 1947, entrepreneurial public officials have tried to reorient the course of the nation's foreign policy. Acting inside the National Security Council system, some principals and high-ranking officials have worked tirelessly to generate policy change and innovation on the issues they care about. These entrepreneurs attempt to set the foreign policy agenda, frame policy problems and solutions, and orient the decision-making process to convince the president and other decision makers to choose the course they advocate. In National Security Entrepreneurs and the Making of American Foreign Policy Vincent Boucher, Charles-Philippe David, and Karine Prémont develop a new concept to study entrepreneurial behaviour among foreign policy advisers and offer the first comprehensive framework of analysis to answer this crucial question: why do some entrepreneurs succeed in guaranteeing the adoption of novel policies while others fail? They explore case studies of attempts to reorient US foreign policy waged by National Security Council entrepreneurs, examining the key factors enabling success and the main forces preventing the adoption of a preferred option: the entrepreneur's profile, presidential leadership, major players involved in the policy formulation and decision-making processes, the national political context, and the presence or absence of significant opportunities. By carefully analyzing significant diplomatic and military decisions of the Johnson, Nixon, Reagan, and Clinton administrations, and offering a preliminary account of contemporary national security entrepreneurship under presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump, this book makes the case for an agent-based explanation of foreign policy change and continuity.


Book Synopsis National Security Entrepreneurs and the Making of American Foreign Policy by : Vincent Boucher

Download or read book National Security Entrepreneurs and the Making of American Foreign Policy written by Vincent Boucher and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 2020-11-12 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the advent of the contemporary US national security apparatus in 1947, entrepreneurial public officials have tried to reorient the course of the nation's foreign policy. Acting inside the National Security Council system, some principals and high-ranking officials have worked tirelessly to generate policy change and innovation on the issues they care about. These entrepreneurs attempt to set the foreign policy agenda, frame policy problems and solutions, and orient the decision-making process to convince the president and other decision makers to choose the course they advocate. In National Security Entrepreneurs and the Making of American Foreign Policy Vincent Boucher, Charles-Philippe David, and Karine Prémont develop a new concept to study entrepreneurial behaviour among foreign policy advisers and offer the first comprehensive framework of analysis to answer this crucial question: why do some entrepreneurs succeed in guaranteeing the adoption of novel policies while others fail? They explore case studies of attempts to reorient US foreign policy waged by National Security Council entrepreneurs, examining the key factors enabling success and the main forces preventing the adoption of a preferred option: the entrepreneur's profile, presidential leadership, major players involved in the policy formulation and decision-making processes, the national political context, and the presence or absence of significant opportunities. By carefully analyzing significant diplomatic and military decisions of the Johnson, Nixon, Reagan, and Clinton administrations, and offering a preliminary account of contemporary national security entrepreneurship under presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump, this book makes the case for an agent-based explanation of foreign policy change and continuity.

The National Security Enterprise

The National Security Enterprise

Author: Roger Z. George

Publisher: Georgetown University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 441

ISBN-13: 1626164401

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This second edition of The National Security Enterprise provides practitioners' insights into the operation, missions, and organizational cultures of the principal national security agencies and other significant institutions that shape the US national security decision-making process. Unlike some textbooks on American foreign policy, this book provides analysis from insiders who have worked at the National Security Council, the State Department, Department of Defense, the intelligence community, and the other critical entities included in the book. The book explains how organizational missions and cultures create the labyrinth in which a coherent national security policy must be fashioned. Understanding and appreciating these organizations and their cultures is essential for formulating and implementing coherent policies. This second edition includes four new chapters (Congress, DHS, Treasury, and USAID) and updates to the text throughout. It covers the many changes instituted by the Obama administration, implications of the government campaign to prosecute leaks, and lessons learned from more than a decade of war in Afghanistan and Iraq.


Book Synopsis The National Security Enterprise by : Roger Z. George

Download or read book The National Security Enterprise written by Roger Z. George and published by Georgetown University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 441 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This second edition of The National Security Enterprise provides practitioners' insights into the operation, missions, and organizational cultures of the principal national security agencies and other significant institutions that shape the US national security decision-making process. Unlike some textbooks on American foreign policy, this book provides analysis from insiders who have worked at the National Security Council, the State Department, Department of Defense, the intelligence community, and the other critical entities included in the book. The book explains how organizational missions and cultures create the labyrinth in which a coherent national security policy must be fashioned. Understanding and appreciating these organizations and their cultures is essential for formulating and implementing coherent policies. This second edition includes four new chapters (Congress, DHS, Treasury, and USAID) and updates to the text throughout. It covers the many changes instituted by the Obama administration, implications of the government campaign to prosecute leaks, and lessons learned from more than a decade of war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

American National Security Policy

American National Security Policy

Author: John T. Fishel

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2017-02-15

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 1442248394

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Security policy is a key factor not only of domestic politics in the U.S., but also of foreign relations and global security. This text sets to explain the process of security policy making in the United States by looking at all the elements that shape it, from institutions and legislation to policymakers themselves and historical precedents. To understand national security policy, the book first needs to address the way national security policy makers see the world. It shows that they generally see it in realist terms where the state is a single rational actor pursuing its national interest. It then focuses on how legislative authorities enable and constrain these policy makers before looking at the organizational context in which policies are made and implemented. This means examining the legal authorities that govern how the system functions, such as the Constitution and the National Security Act of 1947, as well as the various governmental institutions whose capabilities either limit or allow execution, such as the CIA, NSA, etc. Next, the text analyzes the processes and products of national security policy making, such as reports, showing how they differ from administration to administration. Lastly, a series of case studies illustrate the challenges of implementing and developing policy. These span the post-Cold war period to the present, and include the Panama crisis, Somalia, the Balkans Haiti, the Iraq wars, and Afghanistan. By combining both the theory and process, this textbook reveals all aspects of the making of national security policy in United States from agenda setting to the successes and failures of implementation.


Book Synopsis American National Security Policy by : John T. Fishel

Download or read book American National Security Policy written by John T. Fishel and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2017-02-15 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Security policy is a key factor not only of domestic politics in the U.S., but also of foreign relations and global security. This text sets to explain the process of security policy making in the United States by looking at all the elements that shape it, from institutions and legislation to policymakers themselves and historical precedents. To understand national security policy, the book first needs to address the way national security policy makers see the world. It shows that they generally see it in realist terms where the state is a single rational actor pursuing its national interest. It then focuses on how legislative authorities enable and constrain these policy makers before looking at the organizational context in which policies are made and implemented. This means examining the legal authorities that govern how the system functions, such as the Constitution and the National Security Act of 1947, as well as the various governmental institutions whose capabilities either limit or allow execution, such as the CIA, NSA, etc. Next, the text analyzes the processes and products of national security policy making, such as reports, showing how they differ from administration to administration. Lastly, a series of case studies illustrate the challenges of implementing and developing policy. These span the post-Cold war period to the present, and include the Panama crisis, Somalia, the Balkans Haiti, the Iraq wars, and Afghanistan. By combining both the theory and process, this textbook reveals all aspects of the making of national security policy in United States from agenda setting to the successes and failures of implementation.

Sustainable Security

Sustainable Security

Author: Jeremi Suri

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 433

ISBN-13: 0190611480

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Sustaining security : rethinking American national security strategy / Jeremi Suri and Benjamin Valentino -- Dollar diminution and new macroeconomic constraints on American power / Jonathan Kirshner -- Does American military power attract foreign investment? / Daniel Drezner and Nancy Hite-Rubin -- Preserving national strength in a period of fiscal restraint / Cindy Williams -- State finance and national power : Great Britain, China, and the United States in historical perspective / Jeremi Suri -- Reforming American power : civilian national security institutions in the early cold war and beyond / William Inboden -- To starve an army : how great power armies respond to austerity / John W. Hall -- Climate change and US national security : sustaining security amidst unsustainability / Joshua William Busby -- At home abroad : public attitudes towards America's overseas commitments / Benjamin Valentino -- The right choice for NATO / William Wohlforth -- The United States and the Middle East : interests, risks, and costs / Daniel Byman and Sara Bjerg Moller -- Keep, toss, or fix? : assessing US alliances in East Asia / Jennifer Lind -- Terminating the interminable? / Sumit Ganguly -- Neutralization as a sustainable approach to Afghanistan / Audrey Kurth Cronin -- Conclusion / Jeremi Suri and Benjamin Valentino


Book Synopsis Sustainable Security by : Jeremi Suri

Download or read book Sustainable Security written by Jeremi Suri and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sustaining security : rethinking American national security strategy / Jeremi Suri and Benjamin Valentino -- Dollar diminution and new macroeconomic constraints on American power / Jonathan Kirshner -- Does American military power attract foreign investment? / Daniel Drezner and Nancy Hite-Rubin -- Preserving national strength in a period of fiscal restraint / Cindy Williams -- State finance and national power : Great Britain, China, and the United States in historical perspective / Jeremi Suri -- Reforming American power : civilian national security institutions in the early cold war and beyond / William Inboden -- To starve an army : how great power armies respond to austerity / John W. Hall -- Climate change and US national security : sustaining security amidst unsustainability / Joshua William Busby -- At home abroad : public attitudes towards America's overseas commitments / Benjamin Valentino -- The right choice for NATO / William Wohlforth -- The United States and the Middle East : interests, risks, and costs / Daniel Byman and Sara Bjerg Moller -- Keep, toss, or fix? : assessing US alliances in East Asia / Jennifer Lind -- Terminating the interminable? / Sumit Ganguly -- Neutralization as a sustainable approach to Afghanistan / Audrey Kurth Cronin -- Conclusion / Jeremi Suri and Benjamin Valentino

I Am Directed

I Am Directed

Author: Augustus Adebayo

Publisher:

Published: 1991

Total Pages: 152

ISBN-13:

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This is the hilarious account of the experiences of a seasoned civil servant, rendered in fictional form. It is based on actual episodes and experiences of the author during his years in the Nigerian Civil Service, where he was Permanent Secretary in various Ministries, Secretary to the Military Government and Head of the Civil Service in the former Western State of Nigeria. The story portrays the lighter side of the civil service, whose image is one of static dullness, and the drawings add to the fun.


Book Synopsis I Am Directed by : Augustus Adebayo

Download or read book I Am Directed written by Augustus Adebayo and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the hilarious account of the experiences of a seasoned civil servant, rendered in fictional form. It is based on actual episodes and experiences of the author during his years in the Nigerian Civil Service, where he was Permanent Secretary in various Ministries, Secretary to the Military Government and Head of the Civil Service in the former Western State of Nigeria. The story portrays the lighter side of the civil service, whose image is one of static dullness, and the drawings add to the fun.