The Foreign Service Journal, March 2012

66 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / M A R C H 2 0 1 2 rors, such as his assertion that Presi- dent Harry Truman was handily de- feated in the 1952 election by Republican candidate Dwight Eisen- hower. In fact, the Democratic nom- inee was Adlai Stevenson. Glain also does not seem to grasp the role a Foreign Service director general plays within State’s personnel system. Still, these mistakes don’t se- riously weaken the impact of the book. Former Secretary of State George Shultz recently reminded us in these very pages that “strength works in tan- demwith diplomacy” ( FSJ , December 2011, p. 23). As the United States strives to find the right balance be- tween those two approaches to inter- national relations, this book usefully illuminates the perils and conse- quences of employing the wrong com- bination. WilliamD. Bent, a Foreign Service of- ficer since 1992, is currently chief of post operations in the Office of Visa Services. A State representative on the AFSA Governing Board, he serves as liaison to the Foreign Service Journal Editorial Board. A Handy Overview The National Security Enter- prise: Navigating the Labyrinth Roger Z. George and Harvey Rishikof, editors, Georgetown Uni- versity Press, 2011, $32.95, paper- back, 367 pages. R EVIEWED BY L EON W EINTRAUB If embassy resources can spring for just one publication in these austere budgetary times, I can think of no finer purchase than The National Se- curity Enterprise . The book is replete with nuggets of information about vir- tually every agency involved in U.S. foreign policy, as well as solid veins of analytical ore for everyone from jun- ior officers to career ambassadors. Following a foreword by former National Security Adviser Brent Scow- croft, editors Roger George and Har- vey Rishikof explain what they mean by “the national security enterprise.” They then turn to a stellar group of contributors to describe each compo- nent of that entity, starting (appropri- ately) with an overview of State by retired Ambassador Marc Grossman, who is now U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Even those Foreign Service per- sonnel who frequently interact with other agencies will learn a great deal in this volume. For instance, the chapter on the Office of the Secretary of Defense explains the still-unfolding influence of the 1986 Goldwater- Nichols Act, and recounts how the Pentagon deliberately refused to use the interagency process in planning for the 2003 invasion and reconstruc- tion of Iraq. When Condoleezza Rice, then na- tional security adviser, re-established an Executive Steering Group in July 2003 to coordinate interagency activ- ity, OSD sent only lower-ranked offi- cials to the table. That ploy prevented any meaningful coordination in such critical areas as electricity supplies, se- curity for humanitarian aid missions, translators for U.S. troops, and the de- tailing of skilled specialists to the Coalition Provisional Authority from other agencies. Other contributors describe the struggle to establish an effective Di- rectorate of National Intelligence; the evolving role of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as it pivots to deal with counterintelligence and terrorismwith the same vigor that it historically dealt with law enforcement; and the strug- gle to create an effective Department of Homeland Security by integrating several autonomous, high-profile enti- ties while subject to 86 congressional oversight committees. The chapter on Congress tells a story that most of us already know, but the details of its struggles with the ex- ecutive branch over the past decade are still illuminating. At a minimum, they suggest that former Senator Arlen Specter was right to predict in 2008 that “historians will look back at the period from 9/11 to the present as an era of unbridled executive power B O O K S Dear Readers: In order to produce a high- quality product, the FSJ depends on the revenue it earns from advertising. You can help with this. Please let us know the names of companies that have provided good service to you — a hotel, insurance company, auto dealership, or other concern. A referral from our readers is the best entrée! You Are Our Eyes & Ears! Ed Miltenberger Advertising & Circulation Manager Tel: (202) 944-5507 E-mail: miltenberger@afsa.org