The Politics of United States Foreign Policy

James M. Scott is the Herman Brown Chair and Professor of Political Science at Texas Christian University. His primary research and teaching interests are in international relations and foreign policy analysis and he has special interests in U.S. foreign policymaking, the role of Congress, and U.S. democracy promotion. He has authored/co-authored seven books and more than hundred journal articles, book chapters, other nonrefereed publications, review essays, and conference papers. During his career, Dr. Scott has earned over two dozen awards from students, faculty, administration, and professional associations including, most recently, the 2019 Textbook Excellence Award from the Textbook and Academic Authors Association (for IR: International, Economic, and Human Security in a Changing World, Third Edition, co-authored with Ralph G. Carter and A. Cooper Drury); the 2018-2019 Distinguished Faculty Lecture Award (Addran College of Liberal Arts, Texas Christian University); the 2018 Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring Award (International Studies Association – Midwest), the 2018 AddRan College of Liberal Arts Division of Social Sciences Award for Distinguished Achievement as a Creative Teacher and Scholar (Texas Christian University) and the 2012 Quincy Wright Distinguished Scholar Award (International Studies Association – Midwest). Dr. Scott has been active in professional associations, serving on the governing boards, as conference Program Chair, and as President of both the International Studies Association-Midwest (2000) and the Foreign Policy Analysis Section (2001) of the International Studies Association, and as a councillor for the Council on Undergraduate Research (2017-2019). He served as associate editor of Foreign Policy Analysis (2009-2015) co-editor of Political Research Quarterly (2015-2018), and lead editor of International Studies Perspectives (2020-present). From 2004-2013, he was the Director of the annual NSF-funded Democracy and World Politics Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates Program. Jerel Rosati is Professor Emeritus of International Studies and Political Science at the University of South Carolina. His area of specialization is the theory and practice of foreign policy, focusing on the United States policymaking process. He has been a Fulbright Senior Specialist in Argentina and Colombia, and a Visiting Scholar in Argentina, Armenia, China, and Somalia (in 1984). He also has been a Research Associate in the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division (FAND) of the Library of Congress’s Congressional Research Service (CRS) in Washington DC., President of the International Studies Association’s (ISA) Foreign Policy Analysis Section, and President of the Southern region of ISA. He was the PI (Principal Investigator), Program Director, and Academic Director of a six-week U.S. Department of State Fulbright American Studies Institute on U.S. Foreign Policy for six years for 108 scholars-practitioners from over sixty countries. He is the author of over seventy articles and chapters, as well as five books. The recipient of numerous outstanding teaching awards, Dr. Rosati has been the Director and Reader of over fifty Ph.D. Dissertations over fifty Master’s Theses, and has mentored many more individuals in their academic and professional careers within the United States and throughout the world.

Part I Introduction: The Context of US Foreign Policymaking
Chapter 1 Understanding the Politics of US Foreign Policy
Chapter 2 The Global and Historical Context: Power, Role, and Politics on the World Stage
Part II Government and the Policymaking Process
Chapter 3 The President and White House Leadership
Chapter 4 Understanding the Foreign Policy Bureaucracy: The Department of State
Chapter 5 Understanding the Foreign Policy Bureaucracy: The Department of State
Chapter 6 Understanding the Foreign Policy Bureaucracy: The Intelligence Community
Chapter 7 Managing the Foreign Policy Bureaucracy: The National Security Council System
Chapter 8 The Foreign Economic Bureaucracy and the National Economic Council
Chapter 9 Congress and Interbranch Politics
Chapter 10 Explaining the Politics and Processes of Foreign Policymaking
Part III The Society and Domestic Politics
Chapter 11 The Public and Foreign Policy
Chapter 12 Interest Groups and Foreign Policy
Chapter 13 The Media and Foreign Policy
Part IV Conclusion
Chapter 14 Patterns, Processes, and Foreign Policymaking