The Godfather Doctrine: A Foreign Policy Parable

by John C. Hulsman, A. Wess Mitchell

"The Godfather Doctrine" draws clear and essential lessons from perhaps the greatest Hollywood movie ever made to illustrate America's changing geopolitical place in the world and how our country can best meet the momentous strategic challenges it faces.

In the movie "The Godfather," Don Corleone, head of New York's most powerful organized-crime family, is shockingly gunned down in broad daylight, leaving his sons Sonny and Michael, along with his adopted son, consigliere Tom Hagen, to chart a new course for the family. In "The Godfather Doctrine," John Hulsman and Wess Mitchell show how the aging and wounded don is emblematic of cold-war American power on the decline in a new world where our enemies play by unfamiliar rules, and how the don's heirs uncannily exemplify the three leading schools of American foreign policy today. Tom, the left-of-center liberal institutionalist, thinks the old rules still apply and that negotiation is the answer. Sonny is the Bush-era neocon who shoots first and asks questions later, proving an easy target for his enemies. Only Michael, the realist, has a sure feel for the changing scene, recognizing the need for flexible combinations of soft and hard power to keep the family strong and maintain its influence and security in a dangerous and rapidly changing world.

Based on Hulsman and Mitchell's groundbreaking and widely debated article, "Pax Corleone," "The Godfather Doctrine" explains for everyone why Francis Ford Coppola's epic story about a Mafia dynasty holds key insights for ensuring America's survival in the twenty-first century.

Genres: Nonfiction

97 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Temple Dog · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the Godfather Doctrine in 2008 on the run up to the ’08 elections. Revising it in 2016 on the run up to the ’16 elections provides a different context to its premise; that U.S. foreign policy can be defined in three categories; Liberal Institutionalism, Realism and Neo-conservatism. And, that each of these characterizations are an analogy for the three key brothers (Tom, Michael and Sonny, respectively) from Coppola’s iconic The Godfather film.

Well, after eight years, the premise has to some extent held up. But, reading it after having re-watched the Godfather, although I still find it a compelling read, I find some of the premise highly flawed.

Case in point, the authors believe that in order for the U.S. to survive, it has to adopt a Realist i.e. (Michael) approach that incorporates both carrots and sticks in its foreign policy as a way to appease its allies and thwart its enemies. There were elements of this approach over the last eight years, but not everyone would agree that this policy has served the US well. Some would have preferred Sonny’s shot first and ask questions later of Tom’s penchant to negotiate his way out of even the most untenable predicaments. All policy frameworks have been employed throughout U.S. history, some successfully, others to the US’ detriment.

It’s a good book and if you are a fan of The Godfather, you’ll be delightfully amused.

TD recommends

[Sebastian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hulsman, John C., en A. Wess Mitchell, The Godfather Doctrine (Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2009) – Aardige poging om aan de hand van de beroemde maffiafilm The Godfather op toegankelijke wijze een lans te breken voor meer realisme in de Amerikaanse buitenlandse politiek. Tom Hagen uit de film vertegenwoordigt volgens de auteurs het enigszins naieve "liberal institutionalism" waaraan vooral de Democraten (incl. Obama?) zich schuldig maken. Sonny belichaamt het militaristische neoconservatisme, hoewel de analogie vooral hier mank gaat (Sonny is -- anders dan neoconservatieven -- geen ideoloog en eerder een conservatieve nationalist). Michael is de realist die de opkomst van rivaliserende maffiafamilies weet te verwerken met behulp van een "carrot and stick"-benadering. De auteurs gaan ervan uit dat "the age of American global dominance is drawing to a rapid and definitive close," hoewel "the United States will remain chairman of the global board directors." Probleem volgens de auteurs is dat "America increasingly finds itself with a unipolar mindset and a bipolar toolbox in a multipolar world." De auteurs menen dat de "liberal institutionalists" en de neoconservatieven de Amerikaanse buitenlandse politiek en de discussie daarover hebben gedomineerd; zij doen daarmee de invloed van het realisme -- bijv onder George H.W. Bush en Bush jr. (2de termijn) -- tekort. Cijfer: 7. Gelezen: juli 2009.

[Ted Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

A super clear, introduction to international relations theory. The authors use The Godfather movie/book to show how U.S. foreign policy is animated by three different schools of thought: liberal institutionalism (represented by Tom Hagen), neo-conservatism (represented by Sonny Corleone), and realism (represented by Michael Corleone). Written at the height of the War on Terror, the two authors, Wess Mitchell and John Hulsman make the case (correctly, IMHO) that U.S. policy was dominated by the Toms' and Sonnys' of the world, resulting in shifts from all carrots to all sticks, when it came to dealing with the Middle East. A better approach, would be to focus on using both carrots and sticks, being willing to negotiate through a diplomacy that is backed up via military force, aimed at achieving actionable, smart policy objectives. This is a quick read (can take most readers, 75-90 minutes), and it's worth considering.

[Yori · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoyed watching The Godfather, this book draws insightful parallels with America’s foreign policy. Though from 2009, it still holds true in 2020, with the difference that we haven’t seen a Tom in the last few years, but what comes closer to Sonny’s. Or at least it stayed away from the Realism that Michael portrays. Enjoyable and a great analogy.

[Alexander Etges · Rating 3 out of 5]

infotaining and short, perhaps not worth 15 dollars, but still interesting enough to not be bad

[Deepto Chakraborty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for International Relations and Political Science students!

[Rodger Payne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I teach "Global Politics Thru Film" and was hopeful that this book might make a useful companion to that class. However, as the title suggests, the book is very much an exercise in the application of some basic plot elements of "The Godfather" films to American foreign policy. One of the three "schools" discussed in the very short book is neoconservatism, which really is not an international relations theory per se. The authors' view of liberal institutionalism is very narrow, stressing the potential ability of negotiations and carrots to achieve American goals. It does not really address the potential of international institutions to solve global problems jointly or to achieve broader cosmopolitan ends. In the conclusion, the authors embrace a view of realism that does not much match standard academic conceptions of the theory. They describe the "carrot of capitalism" (p. 79) as a realist incentive for managing rising powers. Likewise, Hulsman and Mitchell refer to "the stick of commonly dealing with an al-Qaeda that rejects all states as well as the current system" as a "good place to start to look for broader agreements" (pp. 79-80). Those arguments may well have merit, but most IR theorists would likely regard them as neoliberal, not realist.

[Stephen]

This is a little book, literally: 6 1/4" tall and 4 1/8" and 82 pages long, but packs a powerful punch. It made perfect sense to me to buy it (The Crow Bookshop in Burlington) since it combines two of my real interests, love of cinema and a strong desire to understand why/how America is failing at dealing with the post 9-11 world we find ourselves in. As one of my MOST DESPISED persons on the globe (Dick Cheney, he is the reason my favorite quote is "the more I see of men, the better I like my dog") said, The American lifestyle is not negotiable, or something along those lines, this book proves that if that is indeed true, we better change what we are doing because if we don't we will not have much of a lifestyle, period.
The current crop of Republicans - Sonny in the movie The Godfather, and Democrats - Tom in the Movie are failing miserably at the task. Michael, a realist, is the only one who realized by combining sticks and carrots the Corleone Family would succeed. So we need regime change in this country.

[Jays · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazingly astute look at a sensible path for geopolitics. It's not very in-depth and as such misses some of the particulars, but a really good jumping off point for thinking about how America can progress as a nation.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good! Too short!

[Miles Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good short primer on three major schools of foriegn policy thought: 1) neoconservatism, 2) liberal institutionalism, and 3) realism.