Foreword

FOREWORD here may never have been a time in our history when the successes and failures of our foreign policy have so deeply affected the daily life of every American citizen, when the options available to the policymakers were so abundant (if complex), and when education and informed dialogue were so urgently required across the land. Yet, we have recently completed a presidential election campaign in which the policy debate was reduced by the media to a set ofslogans about war and peace, weakness and strength, military buildups and arms control. At a time when new concepts and new expertise were desperately needed, our national dialogue seemed mired in the rhetoric of the past. President Reagan has declared that 1981 is a time for "new beginnings ," and we can hope by this that he intends to launch a critical examination of the errors of the 1970s and a fresh, constructive, and confident approach to foreign policy in the 1980s. Events of international significance do not just happen. They are not merely the products ofinexorable trends and uncontrolled forces. If the study of international relations teaches us anything, it is that individuals and groups within nations, and national leaders make things happen, for better or for worse. If it is true that the United States no longer enjoys the unchallenged supremacy and dominant influence it once held over the world in the post-World War II era, it is no less true that our response to current world events will have a profound effect on the future of mankind. We cannot abdicate control over our destiny as a nation without at the same time abandoning the most important values that have emerged from 2,500 years ofWestern civilization. We can make a difference in the world. We do have options, and our choices will affect the course of civilization, of freedom, and of individual dignity. The Reagan administration, swept into power with a landslide vote reflecting a deep American urge to regain control of our destiny and to bring strength and consistency to our foreign policy, faces magnificent opportunities and unprecedented dangers. It has the opportunity to renew the bonds which connect our vital interests to those of the advanced industrialized democracies; to restore the strategic deterrent power by which peace is maintained; to overhaul the creaky and dispirited machinery by which foreign policy is implemented (the Foreign Service, CIA, all-voluntary army, AID, ICA, the National Security Council, and the Department of Commerce); to forge new relationships with nations of the Third World. It also faces dangerous twists in the road ahead. How will we deal with the constantly rising price of oil set by the OPEC cartel? How can we prevent the spread ofnuclear weapons 2 SAIS REVIEW to irresponsible nations? What new expansion plans are being concocted in Moscow, and how do we deal with them? How do we strengthen the world trading system, shore up the dollar, and restore stability to our domestic economy, the sine qua non of a strong foreign policy? Among the priorities that must underpin a more powerful role for the United States in world affairs is training Americans for professional careers in both public and private sectors in international affairs—not only in economics, politics, and international law, but in language and area training as well. The School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is training leaders in foreign affairs for the 21st century. A large measure of that training, of course, is dedicated to the study of history—an approach grounded in the beliefthat it is important to know how we got where we are and how present trends may be analyzed before judgments about future policy can have much value. But the School also believes in the value ofcurrent interchange between those in the academic world and those in the practical world ofpolicymaking. For this reason, the new Johns Hopkins Foreign Policy Institute was established in July 1980 as a place where ideas on foreign policy could take form and reach a wider community. The founding chairman of the institute, Lucius D. Battle, former U.S. ambassador to Egypt and assistant secretary ofstate for Near East and South Asian affairs, brings...