Why U.S. Foreign Policy Struggles to Change
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The Global Think Tank.
Changing U.S. foreign policy is notoriously challenging. Just consider the massive resistance that both the Trump and Biden administrations faced in their attempts to withdraw from Afghanistan. Why is the process of creating strategic change so difficult, even for determined presidents?
A new report by Christopher Chivvis, Jennifer Kavanagh, and other authors underscores that foreign policy shifts require more than presidential willpower; it demands overcoming deep institutional obstacles and inertia.
As America’s relative power and legitimacy declines around the world, many experts argue that the U.S. “needs a major strategic orientation” toward a global approach focused less on largesse and more on selective commitments based on risk, cost, and interest.
In this report, the authors explore key factors that have historically helped enable significant policy changes, including:
The report also “identifies and analyzes the major sources of resistance to strategic change in the United States so that those seeking to shift the country’s course…will have a better picture of how this can be done.”
For more, find the whole report here.