Weiter zum Inhalt

The National Security Advisor and the Secretary of State in the Obama Administration: Thomas Donilon and Hillary Clinton

Mikael Blomdahl


Seiten 65 - 83

DOI https://doi.org/10.33675/AMST/2020/1/7


open-access

This publication is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons License Attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivatives 4.0. (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)



This article analyzes the relative influence of National Security Advisor Thomas Donilon and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Obama administration. Specifically, using national security advisor typologies and the bureaucratic politics model, the article argues that although Donilon entered the president’s inner circle, Clinton turned out to be a relatively powerful actor, not least in the 2011 Libya intervention. Examining how advisors interact with one another, their status in the advisory group, and the manner in which presidents solicit information from advisors will further our understanding of how, when, and under what conditions national security-level leaders make decisions.

1 ABC News. “‘This Week’ Transcript: Hillary Clinton, Robert Gates and Donald Rumsfeld.” ABC News. ABC, 27 Mar. 2011. Web. 18. Feb. 2020. https://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/week-transcript-hillary-clinton-robert-gates-donald-rumsfeld/story?id=13232096.

2 Allison, Graham T., and Philip Zelikow. Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis. 2nd ed. New York: Pearson, 1999. Print.

3 Alter, Jonathan. “Woman of the World.” Vanity Fair, June 2011. Web. 20 June 2019. https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2011/6/woman-of-the-world.

4 Baker, Peter. “Inside the Situation Room: How a War Plan Evolved.” New York Times 6 Dec. 2009: A1. Print.

5 ---. “A Manager of Overseas Crises, as Much as the World Permits.” New York Times 23 Sept. 2012: A1. Print.

6 ---, and Helene Cooper. “Clinton Is Said to Accept Secretary of State Position.” New York Times 21 Nov. 2008: A1. Print.

7 Barry, Ben. “Libya’s Lessons.” Survival 15.5 (2011): 51-60. Print.

8 Becker, Jo, and Scott Shane. “Hillary Clinton, ‘Smart Power’ and a Dictator’s Fall.” New York Times. New York Times, 27 Feb. 2016. Web. 18 Feb. 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/us/politics/hillary-clinton-libya.html.

9 Benson, Pam. “Clapper Stands by Libya Remarks; GOP Senator Says He Should Resign.” CNN. CNN, Mar. 11, 2011. Web. 20 Feb. 2020. https://edition.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/03/10/graham.clapper.libya/index.html.

10 Bernstein, Barton. “Understanding Decision-Making, US Foreign Policy, and the Cuban Missile Crisis.” International Security 25.1 (2000): 134-64. Print.

11 Best, Richard A., Jr. The National Security Council: An Organizational Assessment. Huntington, NY: Nova Science Publishers, 2001. Print.

12 Bock, Joseph G. The White House Staff and the National Security Assistant: Friendship and Friction at the Water’s Edge. New York: Greenwood Press, 1987. Print.

13 Brzezinski, Zbigniew K. “The NSC’s Midlife Crisis.” Foreign Policy 69 (1987): 80-99. Print.

14 Burke, John P. The Institutional Presidency: Organizing and Managing the White House from FDR to Clinton. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins UP, 2000. Print.

15 ---. “The Neutral/Honest Broker Role in Foreign Policy Decision Making: A Reassessment.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 35.2 (2005): 229-58. Print.

16 Calabresi, Massimo. “Hillary Clinton and the Rise of Smart Power.” Time. Time, 7 Nov. 2011. Web. 18 Feb. 2020. http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,2097973-6,00.html.

17 Chivvis, Christopher. Toppling Qaddafi: Libya and the Limits of Liberal Intervention. New York: Cambridge UP, 2014. Print.

18 Clemons, Steve. “State Department Says Pentagon Doing Just a Really, Really Great Job.” The Atlantic. Atlantic Monthly Group, 6 Aug. 2012. Web. 20 Jan. 2020. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/08/state-department-says-pentagon-doing-just-a-really-really-great-job/260771/.

19 Clinton, Hillary. “Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: Opening Remarks on FY2012 Budget Given before Senate Foreign Relations Committee.” Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 2 Mar. 2011. Web. 20 Feb. 2020. https://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Clinton_Testimony.pdf.

20 ---. Hard Choices. London: Simon & Schuster, 2014. Print.

21 CNN. “Amanpour Exclusive Interview with Clinton, Gates.” Amanpour. CNN, 5 Oct. 2009. Web. 18 Feb. 2020. http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/10/05/amanpour.gates.clinton/index.html.

22 Conley, Richard S. Presidential Leadership and National Security: The Obama Legacy and Trump Trajectory. New York: Routledge, 2016. Print.

23 Cooper, Helene, and Steven Lee Myers. “Obama Takes Hard Line with Libya after Shift by Clinton.” New York Times. New York Times, 18 Mar. 2011. Web. 18 Feb. 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/19/world/africa/19policy.html

24 Daalder, Ivo H., and I. M. Destler. “How National Security Advisers See Their Role.” The Domestic Sources of American Foreign Policy: Insights and Evidence. Ed. James M. McCormick. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2012. 203-18. Print.

25 Daalder, Ivo H., and I. M. Destler. In the Shadow of the Oval Office: Profiles of the National Security Advisers and the Presidents They Served. From JFK to George W. Bush. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2009. Print.

26 Destler, I. M. “Donilon to the Rescue? The Road Ahead for Obama’s Next National Security Adviser.” Foreign Affairs. Foreign Affairs, 13 Oct. 2010. Web 17 Feb. 2020. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2010- 10-13/donilon-rescue

27 ---. “National Security Advice to U.S. Presidents: Some Lessons from Thirty Years.” World Politics 29.2 (1977): 143-76. Print.

28 DeYoung, Karen. “How the Obama White House Runs Foreign Policy” Washington Post. Washington Post, 4 Aug. 2015. Web. 17 Feb. 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/how-the-obama-white-house-runs-foreign-policy/2015/08/04/2befb960-2fd7-11e5-8353-1215475949f4_story.html.

29 Donilon, Tom. “Briefing by National Security Advisor Tom Donilon and Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes on Libya and the Middle East.” Press Briefings. USA.gov, 10 Mar. 2011. Web. 17 Feb. 2020. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2011/03/10/briefing-national-security-advisor-tom-donilon-and-deputy-national-secur.

30 Dumbrell, John. “President Clinton’s Secretaries of State: Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright.” Journal of Transatlantic Studies 6.3 (2008): 217-27. Print.

31 Friedersdorf, Conor. “How Obama Ignored Congress, and Misled America, on War in Libya.” The Atlantic. Atlantic Monthly Group, 13 Sept. 2012. Web. 20 Feb. 2020. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/09/how-obama-ignored-congress-and-misled-america-on-war-in-libya/262299/.

32 Gates, Robert. Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War. New York: Knopf Doubleday, 2014. Print.

33 ---, and Michael Mullen. “DOD News Briefing with Secretary Gates and Adm. Mullen from the Pentagon.” News Transcript. U.S. Department of Defense, 1 Mar. 2011. Web. 17 Feb. 2020. https://archive.defense.gov/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=4777.

34 Ghattas, Kim. The Secretary: A Journey with Hillary Clinton from Beirut to the Heart of American Power. New York: Times Books, 2013. Print.

35 Gordon, Michael, and Mark Landler. “Backstage Glimpses of Clinton as Dogged Diplomat, Win or Lose.” New York Times 3 Feb. 2013: A1. Print.

36 Greenstein, Fred I. “Change and Continuity in the Modern Presidency.” The New American Political System. Ed. Anthony King. Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute, 1978. 45-86. Print.

37 Halperin, Morton, and Priscilla Clapp. Bureaucratic Politics and Foreign Policy. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 2006. Print.

38 Haney, Patrick J. Organizing for Foreign Policy Crises: Presidents, Advisors, and the Management of Decision Making. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 1997. Print.

39 Hastings, Michael. “Inside Obama’s War Room.” Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone, 13 Oct. 2011. Web. 17 June 2019. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/inside-obamas-war-room-238074/.

40 Hendrickson, Ryan. “Libya and American War Powers: War Making Decision in the United States.” Global Change, Peace and Security 25.2 (2013): 175. Print.

41 Hicks, Bruce D. “Internal Competition over Foreign Policy-Making: The Case of the U.S. Arms Sales to Iran.” Policy Studies Review 9 (1990): 471-84. Print.

42 Holland, Lauren. “The U.S. Decision to Launch Operation Desert Storm: A Bureaucratic Politics Analysis.” Armed Forces and Society 25.2 (1999): 219-42. Print.

43 Holmes, Kim R. “Memo to a New President: How Best to Organize the National Security Council.” The Heritage Foundation. The Heritage Foundation, 1 Apr. 2016. Web. 29 May 2019. https://www.heritage.org/defense/report/memo-new-president-how-best-organize-the-national-security-council.

44 Hsu, Spencer S. “Obama Integrates Security Councils, Adds New Offices Computer Pandemic Threats Addressed.” The Washington Post 27 May 2009: p. 4. Print.

45 Inderfurth, Karl F., and K. Johnson. Fateful Decisions: Inside the National Security Council. New York: Oxford UP, 2004. Print.

46 Jackson, Michael Gordon. “A Dramatically Different NSC? President Obama’s Use of the National Security Council.” Annual Meeting of the Western Political Science Association, Portland, Oregon, 22-24 Mar. 2012. Conference Presentation.

47 Jones, Bruce. “Libya and the Responsibilities of Power.” Survival 53.3 (2011): 5-14. Print.

48 Jones, Christopher. “Bureaucratic Politics and Organizational Process Models.” The International Studies Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. Ed. Robert A. Denemark. London: Blackwell, 2010. 151-68. Print.

49 Kessler, Glenn. “A Team Player Who Stands Apart; Tension between Leading or Blending In Marks Clinton’s Tenure at State.” The Washington Post 12 Sept. 2009. A1. Print.

50 Krasner, Stephen. “Are Bureaucracies Important? (Or Allison Wonderland).” Foreign Policy 7 (1972): 159-79. Print.

51 Larres, Klaus. “George W. Bush’s Secretaries of State and Europe: Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice.” Journal of Transatlantic Studies 6.3 (2008): 201-16. Print.

52 Lewis, Michael. “Obama’s Way.” Vanity Fair. Vanity Fair, Oct. 2012. Web. 20 Dec. 2019. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2012/10/michael-lewis-profile-barack-obama.

53 Lizza, Ryan. “The Consequentialist: How the Arab Spring Remade Obama’s Foreign Policy.” The New Yorker. The New Yorker, 2 May 2011. Web. 17 Feb. 2020. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/05/02/the-consequentialist.

54 Luce, Edward, and Daniel Dombey. “US Foreign Policy: Waiting on a Sun King.” Financial Times. Financial Times, 30 Mar. 2010. Web. 17 Jan. 2020. https://www.ft.com/content/df53a396-3c2a-11df-b40c-00144feabdc0.

55 Mann, James. The Obamians: The Struggle within the White House to Redefine American Power. New York: Penguin, 2012. Print.

56 Marsh, Kevin P. “The Contemporary Presidency: The Administrator as Outsider. James Jones as National Security Advisor.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 42.4 (2012): 827-42. Print.

57 ---. “The Intersection of War and Politics: The Iraq War Troop Surge and Bureaucratic Politics.” Armed Forces & Society 38.3 (2012): 413-37. Print.

58 ---. “Obama’s Surge: A Bureaucratic Politics Analysis of the Decision to Order a Troop Surge in the Afghanistan War.” Foreign Policy Analysis 10.3 (2014): 265-88. Print.

59 ---, and Christopher M. Jones. “Breaking Miles’ Law: The Curious Case of Hillary Clinton the Hawk.” Foreign Policy Analysis 13.3 (2017): 541-60. Print.

60 Moe, Terry. “Presidents, Institutions and Theory.” Researching the Presidency. Ed. George Edwards III, John H. Hessel, and Bert Rockman. Pittsburgh, PA: U of Pittsburgh P, 1993. Print.

61 Mulcahy, Kevin V. “The Secretary of State and the National Security Advisor: Foreign Policymaking in the Carter and Reagan Administrations.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 16 (1986): 280-99. Print.

62 Nicholas, Peter, and Christi Parsons. “National Security Chief Keeps a Low Profile.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2011. Web. 17 Feb. 2020. https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-xpm-2011-apr-29-la-na-donilon-20110430-story.html.

63 Obama, Barack H. “Presidential Policy Directive-1.” Washington, DC: White House. Federation of American Scientists, 13 Feb. 2009. Web. 20 Feb. 2020. https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/ppd/ppd-1.pdf.

64 ---. “Letter from the President Regarding the Commencement of Operations in Libya.” White House, Office of the Press Secretary, 21 Mar. 2011. Web. 18 Feb. 2020. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2011/03/21/letter-president-regarding-commencement-operations-libya.

65 Pew Research Center. “Public Wary of Military Intervention in Libya: Broad Concern that U.S. Military is Overcommitted.” Pew Research Center, 14 Mar. 2011. Web. 3 Mar. 2014. http://www.people-press.org/2011/03/14/public-wary-of-military-intervention-in-libya/.

66 Pfiffner, James. “Decision Making in the Obama White House.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 41.2 (2011): 244-62. Print.

67 “Resolution 1973 (2011).” Adopted by the Security Council at Its 6498th Meeting, on 17 Mar. 2011. United Nations Security Council. Web. 20 Feb. 2020. https://www.undocs.org/S/RES/1973%20(2011).

68 Rice, Susan. “Remarks by Ambassador Susan E. Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, at the Security Council Stakeout on Libya.” New York, 16 Mar. 2011. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/remarks-ambassador-susan-e-rice-us-permanent-representative-united-0.

69 Rothkopf, David. Running the World: The Inside Story of the National Security Council and the Architects of American Power. New York: Public Affairs, 2005. Print.

70 ---. “The President and the Donilon NSC after a Year and the Challenges Ahead.” Foreign Policy. Foreign Policy, 25 Oct. 2011. Web. 17 Feb. 2020. https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/10/25/the-president-and-the-donilon-nsc-after-a-year-and-the-challenges-ahead/.

71 Saba, George John. The Power of the National Security Advisor. Thesis. Center for International Security and Cooperation, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University, 2015. Print.

72 Sanger, David. Confront and Conceal: Obama’s Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power. New York: Broadway Books, 2012. Print.

73 Smith, Martin. “US Bureaucratic Politics and the Decision to Invade Iraq.” Contemporary Politics 14.1 (2008): 91-105. Print.

74 Smith, Steve. “Policy Preferences and Bureaucratic Position: The Case of the American Hostage Rescue Mission.” International Affairs 61.1 (1985): 9-25. Print.

75 Watt, Nicholas, “US Defence Secretary Robert Gates Slams ‘Loose Talk’ about No-Fly Zones.” The Guardian. The Guardian, 3 Mar. 2011. Web. 20 Feb. 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2011/mar/03/robert-gates-dismisses-no-fly-zone.

76 Woodward, Bob. Obama’s Wars. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010. Print.

77 Zhang, Qingmen. “The Bureaucratic Politics of U.S. Arms Sales to Taiwan.” Chinese Journal of International Politics 1.2 (2006): 231-65. Print.

Empfehlen


Export Citation