The National Protection Council (NSC) is the most significant formal institution in the U.S. federal government for the creation and execution of foreign and defense plan. The Council’s four primary members-the Leader, Vice Leader, Secretary of Condition, and Secretary of Defense-are in charge of incredibly far-reaching decisions regarding war and peacefulness, diplomacy, worldwide trade, and covert functions. Despite its apparent importance, the NSC continues to be subject to relatively little about Fateful Decisions: Inside the National Security Council scholarly scrutiny, and for that reason remains misinterpreted by most international relations learners. Fateful Decisions: Inside the National Protection Council provides learners with valuable insights into the roots, workings, advantages, and weaknesses from the NSC.

Within the period from 1947 to 2003, Fateful Decisions features seminal content articles, essays, and files drawn from a number of sources. The reserve presents and illuminates many obscure documents relating to the start of the NSC and its early years. It then examines the change from the NSC from a newly established, and initially ignored, advisory committee to the nation’s premier forum for national protection deliberations. The selections-written by prominent scholars, journalists, and practitioners-offer disclosing coverage of major topics, such as key challenges to the NSC as well as the role from the NSC inside a post-Cold War environment. The content also discuss the rise from the National Protection Adviser to a posture of prominence and offer profiles of these who have held the positioning, including McGeorge Bundy, Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Brent Scowcroft, Samuel Berger, Colin Powell, and Condoleezza Rice. Chronicling the overall performance from the NSC over the years, Fateful Decisions dissects both its successes and its failures-from the Cuban Missile Problems through the Iran-contra affair, to the present battle against global terrorism-and presents reform proposals to improve the Council’s efficiency. It is perfect for courses within the NSC, national protection decision-making, and U.S. foreign policy.