WEEK 14: Presidential Diplomacy

Reaching a Critical Junction in Syria

Diplomatic attempts to end the Syrian conflict are "nearly impossible" and not enough is being done to end the fighting, the new United Nations and Arab League mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said in a recent BBC interview. 

In this Nov. 29, 2012 photo, night falls on a Syrian rebel-controlled area as destroyed buildings, including Dar Al-Shifa hospital, are seen on Sa'ar street after airstrikes targeted the area, killing dozens in Aleppo, Syria.
Source:  Christian Science Monitor



In this week's class,  we will examine the constitutional powers of the President in foreign affairs. What is diplomacy and how does the Constitution provide for the making of treaties? How does a treaty differ from an executive agreement and are these executive agreements constitutional? The president has three principal groups of officials to help him formulate foreign policy to include diplomatic communities, military communities and intelligence communities. The Secretaries of State and Defense together with the Director of Central Intelligence and the National Security Council (NSC) are key advisors to the President in carrying out his constitutional powers and interacting with Congress and its explicit constitutional powers detailed in Article 1. An example of a controversial diplomatic decision by U.S. Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton is the continuation of China's MFN status after the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. See a BBC video of this event here, a Chinese video here, and a music video here that chronicles the massacre.

In our classs handout, we will discuss the following topics:

• The Constitutional Framework of Presidential Diplomacy
• Treaty Powers
• Executive Agreements
• The President versus Congress
• The White House Foreign Policy Advisory System
• The Secretary os State and the Diplomatic Community
• The Secretary of Defense and the Defense Community
• The Director of Central Intelligence and the Intelligence Community
• The National Security Advisor and the National security Council