1903 



and greater depth of analysis produces improved policy. By whatever 

 means, it seems important that the Congress provide itself with such 

 service. 



CONGRESSIONAL FOREIGN POLICY PLANNING 



Heavy emphasis on the importance of long-range strategic planning 

 of foreign policy, divorced from short-range preoccupation with re- 

 active diplomacy, was stressed by the Murphy Commission as well as 

 in the present study. However, the Murphy Commission focused on 

 strategic planning in the executive branch; the present study contends 

 that it is also an important function of the Congress and that some 

 long-range planning should be performed in the legislative branch. 



As executive branch institutions for strategic planning the Murphy 

 Commission proposed (1) renewal of the practice of preparation and 

 publication of a periodic Presidential "State of the World Report"; 

 (2) the periodic preparation, by a "prestigious and independent or- 

 ganization of scientists" under delegation from both the executive 

 and legislative branches, of a "Global Systems Critical List of Prob- 

 lems and Opportunities"; (3) creation of a "Council of International 

 Planning," patterned after the Council of Economic Advisers, to 

 concentrate on a few carefully selected problems; (4) assignment of 

 specific long-range planning functions to members of the State De- 

 partment's Policy Planning Staff; and (5) creation of an Advisory 

 Committee of outside experts to serve as a bridge between the Policy 

 Planning Staff and the scholarly community. The only reference to 

 the Congress in this context had to do with review and hearings on 

 the Global Systems Critical List. 



Various legislative proposals were offered in 1975 for the creation 

 of a joint committee on national security or strategic planning. A 

 partial substitute might be a small congressional planning office, 

 protected from the pressures of both partisanship and current opera- 

 tions by attachment to a Washington area university or foundation. 

 Alternatively, the planning office could be associated with the Senior 

 Specialist Division of the Congressional Research Service. In either 

 case it should provide access to all appropriate congressional com- 

 mittees. The special requirements of the planning function in the 

 congressional setting seem to call for the highest possible level of 

 professional and technological expertise, insulated from short-range 

 problems and issues, with permanent tenure unaffected by changes in 

 political control or committee chairmanships. The planning office 

 would provide the Congress with objective studies of broad perspec- 

 tive on the long-range goals and prospects, and ideas for initiatives 

 to serve the goals and adapt to gradual changes in U.S. foreign re- 

 lations. Insofar as technology plays a major role in modern diplomacy, 

 this institution would require substantial technological expertise, but 

 necessarily in combination with a strong international affairs 

 capability. 



The importance of insulation of such an institution from day-to-day 

 problems does not imply its exclusion from contact with the Congress. 

 On the contrary, the expert members of the institution could hold 

 seminars, colloquia, workshops, and open consultations with visiting 

 scholars for the benefit of interested Members of Congress as well as 

 preparing in-depth analyses of the strategic concepts and proposed 

 diplomatic initiatives for congressional consideration. An important 



