cover image The Public Dimension of Foreign Policy

The Public Dimension of Foreign Policy

David D. Newsom. Indiana University Press, $37.95 (304pp) ISBN 978-0-253-32960-8

As Newsom quite rightly points out, the national consensus on foreign policy has disintegrated in postwar America. After the Vietnam War, the American public was no longer convinced that government was the sole or best arbiter of the national interest, and a host of other institutions and forces gained an increasing impact on the conduct of foreign policy: a more powerful press; lobbying groups (e.g., AIPAC, American-Israel Public Affairs Committee); industrial concerns; and academe and think tanks (through which government officials are regularly recycled).Towards the end, Newsom notes that his emphasis is on ""the institutes and individuals in Washington that help shape the public's perceptions of foreign issues,'' which is true--this accounting is basically one-way, giving little sense of any complex dialogue between the country and Washington. Newsom--who has been an ambassador three times; held the post of director of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown; and served as assistant secretary of state for African affairs in 1969 and undersecretary for political affairs under President Carter--brings a great deal of personal experience to this book. Sometimes, it's a little too much. His recollections of trying to raise money from Armand Hammer, for example, are tangential at best. And while it is understandable that he chooses to draw his examples from his own experience in government, less about the Soviet Brigade in Cuba in 1979 or the Shah's overthrow and more about the Gulf War, Somalia and Bosnia would have been more timley. Ultimately, readers may find themselves wishing for a more in-depth handling of this important issue. (Feb.)