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Blind Oracles: Intellectuals and War from Kennan to Kissinger
In this trenchant analysis, historian Bruce Kuklick examines the role of intellectuals in foreign policymaking. He recounts the history of the development of ideas about strategy and foreign policy during a critical period in American history: the era of the nuclear standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union.
The book looks at how the country's foremost thinkers advanced their ideas during this time of United States expansionism, a period that culminated in the Vietnam War and détente with the Soviets. Beginning with George Kennan after World War II, and concluding with Henry Kissinger and the Vietnam War, Kuklick examines the role of both institutional policymakers such as those at The Rand Corporation and Harvard's Kennedy School, and individual thinkers including Paul Nitze, McGeorge Bundy, and Walt Rostow.
Kuklick contends that the figures having the most influence on American strategy--Kissinger, for example--clearly understood the way politics and the exercise of power affects policymaking. Other brilliant thinkers, on the other hand, often played a minor role, providing, at best, a rationale for policies adopted for political reasons. At a time when the role of the neoconservatives' influence over American foreign policy is a subject of intense debate, this book offers important insight into the function of intellectuals in foreign policymaking.
The book looks at how the country's foremost thinkers advanced their ideas during this time of United States expansionism, a period that culminated in the Vietnam War and détente with the Soviets. Beginning with George Kennan after World War II, and concluding with Henry Kissinger and the Vietnam War, Kuklick examines the role of both institutional policymakers such as those at The Rand Corporation and Harvard's Kennedy School, and individual thinkers including Paul Nitze, McGeorge Bundy, and Walt Rostow.
Kuklick contends that the figures having the most influence on American strategy--Kissinger, for example--clearly understood the way politics and the exercise of power affects policymaking. Other brilliant thinkers, on the other hand, often played a minor role, providing, at best, a rationale for policies adopted for political reasons. At a time when the role of the neoconservatives' influence over American foreign policy is a subject of intense debate, this book offers important insight into the function of intellectuals in foreign policymaking.
264 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
57 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 16, 2013
Very disappointing, particularly because I love Kuklick's other work. It reads more like a collection of essays than a book and they vary significantly in quality. There is an interesting chapter on Harvard's Kennedy School, but I have found most of his other snapshots (Kennan, Kissinger, RAND, etc.) done better elsewhere.
September 1, 2021
How to depress a political science major…
Big takeaway: in politics, theory always follows in step panting on the heels of action & its actors and is as often as not brought to heel by it/them whenever deemed necessary. It’s never allowed to pull on its leash to lead without the possibility of it being choked to death.
Solution for the depressed political theorist: Creative writing courses, with a minor in journalism.
Big takeaway: in politics, theory always follows in step panting on the heels of action & its actors and is as often as not brought to heel by it/them whenever deemed necessary. It’s never allowed to pull on its leash to lead without the possibility of it being choked to death.
Solution for the depressed political theorist: Creative writing courses, with a minor in journalism.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews