Making American Foreign Policy: President--Congress Relations from the Second World War to the Post--Cold War Era

Expanded from the original edition to include the post-Cold War era, Making American Foreign Policy explores the struggle between the President and the Congress to shape U.S. foreign policy from World War II, through Vietnam and "Operation Desert Storm," to the Clinton Administration's policy in Somalia. Case studies make the book especially useful for classroom teaching and the six common themes identified give students a more focused understanding of foreign policy formulation.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Congress and Collective Security: The Resolutions of 1943 Chapter 3 Congress and Bipartisanship: The Formation of NATO, 1949 Chapter 4 Congress and Franco Spain: The Pact of Madrid, 1953 Chapter 5 Congress and the Cold War: U.S.-China Policy, 1955 Chapter 6 Congress and the Middle East: The Eisenhower Doctrine, 1957 Chapter 7 Kennedy and the Congress: The Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, 1963 Chapter 8 Nixon Versus the Congress: The War Powers Resolution, 1973 Chapter 9 Reagan and the Congress: The Grenada Intervention, 1983 Chapter 10 Congress and the Gulf War: From Desert Shield to Desert Storm, 1991 Chapter 11 Common Themes and a Look at Clinton's Congressional Relations Chapter 12 Appendices Chapter 13 Bibliography

About the Author :
Philip J. Briggs is professor of political science at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania

Review :
Well-researched, well-reasoned, and well-argued . . . an extremely useful casebook for classroom use. The perpetual competition for control over America's foreign policy that takes place between the President and the Congress comes to life in Professor Brigg's insightful case studies. He conveys Washington's power game with accuracy and verve. The case studies themselves are quite useful. Each provides a fairly detailed account of the setting and major developments in the policy process. A timely contribution to a recurring problem—sorting out the respective roles of the president and the Congress in the conduct of American foreign policy. His case studies are well chosen. The author goes beyond the tugs of power between the White House and Capitol Hill. He examines the threads in that rope of tension: constitutional issues, key actors, communication links and the historical precedent that together fashion contemporary American foreign policy.