Difficult Transitions: Foreign Policy Troubles at the Outset of Presidential Power

• Publisher:   Brookings Institution Press
• Number Of Pages:   204
• Publication Date:   2008-11-01
• ISBN-10 / ASIN:   0815713401
• ISBN-13 / EAN:   9780815713401

New presidents have no honeymoon when it comes to foreign policy. Less than three months into his presidency, for example, John F. Kennedy authorized the disastrous effort to overthrow Fidel Castro at the Bay of Pigs. More recently, George W. Bush had been in office for less than eight months when he was faced with the attacks of September 11. How should an incoming president prepare for the foreign policy challenges that lie immediately ahead? That s the question Kurt Campbell and James Steinberg tackle in this compelling book. Drawing on their decades of government service in the corridors of Capitol Hill, the intimate confines of the White House, the State Department, and the bare-knuckles Pentagon bureaucracy Campbell and Steinberg identify the major foreign policy pitfalls that face a new presidential administration. They explain clearly and concisely what it takes to get foreign policy right from the start. The authors set the scene with a historical overview of presidential transitions and foreign policy including case studies of such prominent episodes as the Black Hawk Down tragedy in Somalia that shook the Clinton administration in its first year and the Bush administration s handling of the collision between a U.S. reconnaissance plane and a Chinese fighter jet in the spring of 2001. They pinpoint the leading causes of foreign policy fiascos, including the tendency to write off the policies of the outgoing administration and the failure to appreciate the differences between campaign promises and policy realities. Most important, they provide a road map to help the new administration steer clear of the land mines ahead. America s next president will confront critical foreign policy decisions from day one. Difficult Transitions provides essential guidance for getting those choices right.

This book provides an interesting look at the issues surrounding presidential transitions. The book discusses in detail the problems, and opportunities, presented to an incoming administration focusing on the campaign (and the problems that campaign promises can create for a new administration), the selection of key personnel within the administration, the establishment of procedures to make decisions within the administration as well as other issues such as dealing with the press. In my opinion, the most interesting aspect of the book was the historical perspective that it provided as it described how each new administration from Eisenhower to Bush has attacked each of the issues mentioned above. I was less impressed with recommendations it gives for the Obama administration. The most surprising aspect was the description of how truly vulnerable the country is during the initial days/weeks of a new administration as it tries to get its personnel through the congressional approval process and in place to handle any arising crisis situation. Overall, an easily read book, short - can be read in one or two days, provides much to think about in terms of what to expect from a new administration (as well as what we should not expect, or pressure a new administration to do), and discusses the myriad of problems that a new administration faces. I am glad that I read this book.

Bookmark Difficult Transitions: Foreign Policy Troubles at the Outset of Presidential Power

Hyperlink code: