Chapter 3: Dynamics of Decision Making

Exercises

Understanding National Interests

1. Access the Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports at www.fas.org/man/crs/ .

2. Select and download one of the reports for any of the regions presented.

3. What kind of relationship does the United States have with the country or region you read about? What conflicts, compromises, missions, or treaties have been pursued with this country or region?

4. What are the strategic reasons given for the relationship in the report? If the report does not provide such reasons, what do you think they are and why would the United States pursue these interests?

5. Does U.S. involvement with this country or region support realism, liberalism, or neither? Support your answer by identifying aspects of these security theories.

Understanding Bureaucratic Politics

1. Read one of the following resources on the 2003 Iraq War: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/invasion/ or http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/ .

2. Who are the main actors making foreign-policy decisions?

3. Does this example fit the rational politics model, bureaucratic politics model, presidential-dominance model, or congressional-dominance model? Are there times when multiple models apply?

4. Based on previous chapters, what does this type of decision making suggest about the future in Iraq for the United States ?

Analyzing Presidential Beliefs and Decisions

1. Access the biography page for U.S. presidents at www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/ .

2. Read about one of the presidents. (Hint: you may find it easier to study a more recent president.)

3. What was the president's religion? What were the president's prior careers and public service positions? What conflicts did the president preside over?

4. Can you classify this president using a belief system or political psychology method? For instance, does the president fit into Barber's (1992) typology?

5. What are some shortcomings of using a belief system typology to analyze foreign policy?