Flawed by Design

The Evolution of the CIA, JCS, and NSC

Amy Zegart

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English

Stanford University Press
25 August 2000

Espionage & secret services; Defence strategy, planning & research; Security services

In this provocative and thoughtful book, Amy Zegart challenges the conventional belief that national security agencies work reasonably well to serve the national interest as they were designed to do. Using a new institutionalist approach, Zegart asks what forces shaped the initial design of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the National Security Council in ways that meant they were handicapped from birth. Ironically, she finds that much of the blame can be ascribed to cherished features of American democracy frequent elections, the separation of powers, majority rule, political compromise all of which constrain presidential power and give Congress little incentive to create an effective foreign policy system. At the same time, bureaucrats in rival departments had the expertise, the staying power, and the incentives to sabotage the creation of effective competitors, and this is exactly what they did.

By: Amy Zegart
Imprint: Stanford University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Edition: New edition
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9780804741316
ISBN 10: 080474131X
Pages: 336
Publication Date: 25 August 2000
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Professional & Vocational , A / AS level , Further / Higher Education
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

List of figures List of tables Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction 1. Toward a theory of national security agencies 2. Origins of the national security council system: a 'brass-knuckle fight to the finish' 3. Evolution of the national security council system: 'from king's ministers to palace guards' 4. Origins of the joint chiefs of staff: 'fighting for the very life of the navy' 5. Evolution of the joint chiefs of staff: 'the swallows return to capistrano' 6. Origins of the central intelligence agency: 'those spooky boys' 7. Evolution of the central intelligence agency: 'one of the weakest links in national security' 8. Conclusion Appendices Notes Bibliography Index.

Amy B. Zegart is Assistant Professor of Policy Studies in the School of Public Policy and Social Research at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Reviews for Flawed by Design: The Evolution of the CIA, JCS, and NSC

Fifty years afer the creation fo the national securty decision making mechanisms, Zegart's anaysis is both historically timely and intellectually insightful. Her assessments should be seriously considered in any systematic efforts to update and reform the existing arrangements. -- Zbigniew Brzezinski Based on voluminous historical materials, this book is a must-read for all serious students of the American foreign policy process. -- General Brent Scowcroft Former National Security Advisor Zegart's incisive and revealing new book ... convincingly argues that U.S. interests have been compromised ... by the institutional design of national security agencies. -- Washington Monthly