CHAPTER 18— INITIATIVE VERSUS REACTIVE FOREIGN 



POLICY 



The foreign policy of every nation is constructed with reference to 

 the external world. At one extreme, the policy is designed to respond 

 to external pressures and events m order to protect the nation's in- 

 terests and security'. At the other extreme the nation deliberately 

 forces events and creates situations to motivate other nations into 

 modes of behavior supportive of its interests and security, or otherwise 

 designs creative actions to shape the external world conditions in 

 ways beneficial to the nation's foreign policy. An example of the first 

 would be President Kennedy's response to the placing of missile 

 bases on Cuban territory. An example of the second would be Presi- 

 dent Kennedy's offer to the Soviet Union to join forces in the attempt 

 to land a man on the moon. 



Statement of the Hypothesis 



The hypothesis of this essay is that there are inherent advantages to 

 a nation pursuing an initiative foreign policy, and inherent disadvan- 

 tages in a policy of reacting to external forces of change. It is contended 

 that during its history the United States has moved somewhat from 

 the initiative to the reactive mode. The consequences seem to include 

 the following generalities: 



The diplomatic effort is increased while the progress toward diplo- 

 matic goals is diminished; 



Control of future diplomatic relationships passes from the United 

 States to other national states; 



Elements of U.S. power are spread too thinlj'" over many concurrent 

 programs ; 



Resources are reserved unused in anticipation of the need to react 

 to external forces of change that do not eventuate; 



The pattern of diplomatic stance is made impossibly complex and 

 incoherent and actions become contradictory and inconsistent; and 



Relationships with other national states tend to be alienated in 

 unintended ways by ad hoc responses. 



It is further to be noted that the initiative mode lends itself to 

 long-range coherent planning and stable relationships while the reac- 

 tive mode usually involves hasty moving from crisis to crisis with 

 insufficient attention to ultimate consequences or emerging trends in 

 world relationships. 



Defining the Initiative j Reactive Issue 



In the real world the case of a reactive or initiative mode seldom 

 if ever occurs in the pure form. External changes and forces will always 

 need to be taken into account, so that the reactive element is almost 

 always present. Conversely every reaction to external pressures has 

 elements of initiative — the search for options yielding best resolutions 

 to external challenges. Sometimes initiative is matched by equally 

 forceful counter-initiative, as was the case when President Truman 

 responded to the sealing of Berlin corridors with the dramatic Berlin 

 airlift. 



(1717) 



