Frederick H. Hartmann and Robert L. Wendzel, in "Foreign Policy Decisions," Chapter 1 in their book America's Foreign Policy in a Changing World, explore the process of making foreign policy decisions in cases where the "vital interests" (10) of the nation appear to be at stake. These cases often involve the decision to use or not use military force.
Exploring the Persian Gulf Crisis, the authors write that after intense public debate involving President Bush, the Congress and the American people, Bush prevailed in his decision to attack Iraq militarily, backed by the support of the United Nations. The authors argue that this decision and others involving vital interests and possible military action are far more complex than imagined.
For example, "every set of alternatives has four values, two on each side. To ignore any of the four is unwise" (17). Without complete analysis of all factors---insofar as possible considering unknowable future events and consequences---foreign policy "stumbles from one problem to the next" (19).
The authors argue that the checks and balances built into the Constitution are still in effect today, making the President far more answerable to Congress, the courts, and the people, than many critics of Presidential power might argue. Nevertheless, the President does have more power to implement policy in foreign affairs than in domestic affairs. Any major foreign policy decision involves a long process which "demands a choice on commitment, followed by a choice of modalities" (22).
The President may have considerable power in foreign affairs, but it is tempered by Congressional resistance, by the opinion of the public, and by the limitations imposed by the views of other nations (23).
The U.S. people and media are too desirous of simplified summaries of major events. This prevents the learning of "small but important lessons in the quest for great and single truths" (24).
In Chapte...