Foreign Affairs Strategy: Logic for American Statecraft

This is a book on how to think - strategically - about foreign policy. Focusing on the American experience, it defines the national interest as a concept in strategic logic and describes how to select objectives that will take advantage of opportunities to promote interests, while protecting them against threats. It also discusses national power and influence, as well as the political, informational, economic, and military instruments of state power. Based on a graphic framework that models strategic interrelationships, the book is illustrated with numerous examples from recent American statecraft. It ends with an extended critique of current American foreign policy and a detailed outline of an alternative strategy better suited to the problems of the 21st century.

Terry L. Deibel holds the Diplome of the Institute of Advanced International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland, and a doctorate from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He has served in the International Programs Division of the Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President of the United States, and in the Politico-Military Affairs Bureau of the Department of State. Dr Deibel taught at the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, and since 1978 he has been a faculty member, associate dean, and department chairman at the National War College in Washington, DC, where for many years he directed the teaching of foreign affairs strategy to mid-career foreign service, intelligence, and military officers.