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Introduction: Constantine C. Menges' Inside the National Security Council
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13821 |
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BOOK WORLD
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12 / 1988 |
438 Words |
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Inside the National Security Council: The True Story of the Making and Unmaking of Reagan's Foreign Policy, by Constantine C. Menges is an insider's account of hard-fought conflicts over foreign policy among Ronald Reagan's top officials.
"Central America: Misserving the President," Menges' third chapter, is reprinted here. It gives a blow-by-blow account of the struggle between Reagan, who was personally committed to democracy in Nicaragua (diplomatic recognition was given the Sandinistas by the Organization of American States in 1979, even before Somoza was ousted, on the grounds that the Sandinistas would hold democratic elections, which they have never held), and the State Department, which tried to allow communist Nicaragua to negotiate an agreement under which Nicaragua would remain communist but would agree not to export its revolution.
In "Securing the NSC," James T. Hackett lays bare the problems bedeviling the National Security Council that must be resolved before the NSC can be counted on to make sure the president's foreign policy decisions are well-informed and are carried out.
"State's Craft," by Philip Nicolaides discusses the stratagems the State Department used in its various attempts to actually circumvent the president's stated policies. Washington hardball at its worst is laid bare
"Battle over Central America," by Susan Purcell, describes the two main positions in the continuing struggle for Central America that have made a coherent approach to Nicaragua impossible. She points out that "ideologues," rather than "pragmatists," have been right more often in predicting events that would actually occur.
"Down for the Count," by Philip Peters, discusses the situation in Central America today. Peters trace the history of American policy for Central America and ties together the actions of the president, Congress, State Department, and the American public that have—after eight years of trying—failed to dislodge a base for communist aggression that may yet threaten our borders.
Constantine C. Menges is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. He served in the Reagan administration for five years: from 1983-86 as special assistant to the president for national security affairs, and from 1981-83 as the national intelligence officer for Latin America at the CIA. He was one of Reagan's
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