National Security Entrepreneurs and the Making of American Foreign Policy

""In a welcome new volume, Vincent Boucher, Charles-Philippe David, and Karine Premont enrich and extend the literature on foreign policy change by examining the efforts of National Security Council entrepreneurs to change the direction of US foreign policies. The authors' sweeping analysis from the Johnson through Trump administrations explains why some efforts succeed while others fail. Their analytical model of National Security Council entrepreneurship opens new opportunities for foreign policy research and understanding."" Ralph G. Carter, Texas Christian University ""National Security Entrepreneurs and the Making of American Foreign Policy is head and shoulders above most of the political science literature on these issues. This book captures the drama and human element in each case study, even as it sticks within the framework of the analysis – that's difficult to do, but the authors do it well. This will be an important work in the field of foreign policy analysis."" William Newmann, Virginia Commonwealth University ""Most studies of American foreign policy at the individual level focus on the president. Boucher, David, and Prémont very usefully direct our attention to the bureaucratic entrepreneurs in the National Security Council who try to drive change in the policy-making process, not always successfully and not always with positive results. This is a real contribution to our understanding of how American foreign policy is made."" F. Gregory Gause III, Bush School of Government, Texas A&M University ""National Security Entrepreneurs and the Making of American Foreign Policy breaks important new ground in providing a comprehensive assessment of factors that affect the ability of senior government officials to generate foreign policy shifts. Through rich case studies and insightful analysis, Boucher, David, and Prémont show that successful entrepreneurs rely on both windows of opportunity and effective strategies of bureaucratic manoeuvring to move foreign policy in new directions."" Jordan Tama, American University ""American foreign policy making remains a human enterprise, one that reflects all the strengths and weaknesses of the people who take part in the process. In National Security Entrepreneurs and the Making of American Foreign Policy, Boucher, David, and Prémont introduce us to some of the entrepreneurs who have shaped American statecraft for good and ill. It is a welcome, needed, and readable addition to the literature."" John A. Gans, University of Pennsylvania and author of White House Warriors: How the National Security Council Transformed the American Way of War ""While policy entrepreneurship has received closer examination in recent years, particularly in the aftermath of September 11th, National Security Entrepreneurs stands out for its emphasis on US foreign policy actors and the introduction of a five-variable framework to answer why NSC entrepreneurship results in both success and failure."" H-War