Avoiding Trivia: The Role of Strategic Planning in American Foreign Policy (Unabridged‪)‬

Strategic planning needs to be a more integral part of America's foreign policymaking. While thousands of troops are engaged in combat and homeland security concerns abound, long-term coordination of goals and resources would seem to be of paramount importance. A change in presidential administration brings the hope that strategic planning will play an elevated role in U.S. foreign policy. Can policy planners - in the Pentagon, State Department, Treasury, NSC, and National Intelligence Council - rise to the challenge? Indeed, is strategic planning a viable concept in 21st-century foreign policy? These crucial questions guide this eye-opening book.

The contributors include many key figures from the past few decades of foreign policy and planning: Andrew Erdmann, Peter Feaver, Aaron Friedberg, David F. Gordon, Richard Haass, William Inboden, Bruce Jentleson, Steven Krasner, Jeffrey Legro, Daniel Twining, Thomas Wright, and Amy Zegart. The book is published by Brookings Institution Press.