Book Review: James D Boys, Clinton’s Grand Strategy: US Foreign Policy in a Post-Cold War World
| Date | 01 February 2017 |
| Author | Nikolaos Lampas |
| DOI | 10.1177/1478929916676935 |
| Published date | 01 February 2017 |
| Subject Matter | Book ReviewsThe Americas |
Political Studies Review 15 (1)
tion: entropic information and expert informa-
The main argument of this book is that the
tion. Entropic information, which can be
Clinton Administration devised a Grand
described as incorporating ‘diverse viewpoints
Strategy for the United States which moved
into a decision-making process’ (p. 78), is a
beyond a preponderance of power, embraced
good fit for problem discovery, while expert
the idea that ethics should count in foreign
information is useful for problem solution.
policy, offered respect for how other nations
Broad theories require valid and reliable
ruled their own, considered the free movement
measures. Baumgartner and Jones not only
of people, capital and ideas as the core of its
open new horizons in the theories of policy pro-
foreign policy, and promoted multilateralism.
cesses but also develop an important indicator
This book serves as a ‘political history of the
of agenda expansion to examine the effect of
effort to devise and implement [the] US Grand
issue diversity on government activities. As
strategy in the post-Cold War world and of the
their earlier seminal works Agendas and
individuals responsible for this’ (p. 2). As such,
Instability in American Politics (1993) and The
the book uses mostly primary material such as
Politics of Attention (2005) have attempted –
speeches, National Security Strategy Reports,
and succeeded in – The Politics of Information
documents from the National Security Council,
is just another attempt to set a new agenda in
Presidential Decision Directives, Presidential
public policy. Moreover, although they study
Review Documents, declassified material from
the dynamics in American politics, their theory
the Presidential Library and interviews with
is clearly applicable to other countries. There is
senior members of the Administration, and it
no doubt that scholars who follow this new
focuses on ‘declaratory’ strategy. Due to its
...
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