The State Department Policy Planning Process

Dean Acheson put it well. For the policy planner, 'distraction lurks on two sides: on one, to be lured into operations; on the other, into encyclopedism, into the amassing of analyses with the various contingencies that might arise and the courses of action that might be taken to meet them/1 When lured into operations, many a planner has found the territorial imperative of his colleagues 'on the line* aroused to new heights. When content with encyclopaedism, too many planners have experienced the worst bureaucratic fate of all to be taken seriously only by other planners or, worse yet, the academic community. Facetiousness aside, these twin pitfalls inevitably reflect the many competing demands on the policy planner in the United States State Department today: to articulate and help launch new policy approaches; to respond to the analytical, policy, and (yes) speech-making requirements of the secretary of state and his deputies; to act as devil's advocate and a source of alternate policy options; to serve as honest broker between conflicting bureau views and in pulling together policy options and recommendations; to help co-ordinate the inter-agency foreign-policy review process; often to engage in international consultations and negotiations; and to maintain an active dialogue with the non-governmental community in this country and overseas

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