Foreign Policy and Diplomatic Initiative in Washington

Abstract

The formulation of foreign policy and much diplomatic initiative in Washington are shifting perceptibly from the Department of State to various other agencies of the executive branch, including some with only secondary responsibilities in the field of foreign affairs. This is a development with serious implications for a nation having world-wide leadership responsibilities which can be neither shifted nor shirked. The principal cause of this development is the 1954 reform providing that the vast majority of officer positions within the Department of State be manned on a rotational basis by Foreign Service officers. A combination of administrative and "human" considerations militates against the effective implementation of the reform and undermines the policy-formulation process in ways apparently not foreseen by the Wriston Task Force or fully appreciated by those charged with the over-all responsibility of directing the affairs of the Department of State.