Traditionally, we’ve always equated foreign policy planning with a single actor; a leader whose actions determine the state’s actions. (Almost like the state is a puppet) The State might be a puppet but it’s manned by more than just one single player. What we fail to see is that there is a myriad of players behind the scenes, Graham Allison and Morton Halperin in their paper “ Bureaucratic Politics: A Paradigm and Some Policy Implications” bring forth and dismantle our traditional sense of how and why foreign policy is the way it is.
Allison and Halperin, use the US to show the democratic nature of foreign policy process. Actors from the bureaucracy to pressure groups all have a tremendous impact on a nation’s policy. What was fascinating to see was how much our domestic situation effects the formation. It’s interesting to note how that traditionally we’ve looked at international relations as inter-state relations however, the focus on intra-national relations is an eye-opener. Moreover, it shows that there is no one unified interest within a nation. There are several minds at work all with their own motives. Hence, there is a constant tug of war; constant bargaining and negotiations which eventually lead to a compromise.
Lastly, while I was reading this piece I was constantly reminded that how naive it is to think that a certain leader and his interests determine a state’s actions. We keep on forgetting that these leaders come and go, what stays behind are the institutions like the bureaucracy which might have a far more impact on our state than what we give them credit for.
I agree that the bureaucracy is what really has a dramatic impact on the functioning and outcomes of states. Far too often we worry about what particular celebrity-leader is going to save us instead of focusing on building effective institutions.
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