ABSTRACT
The interplay between domestic and foreign interests determines the making of foreign policy in all countries. This, however, is a matter of degree. In the United States, domestic politics affects foreign policy making more conclusively than in any other country. American foreign policy is popular foreign policy. In no other country is the influence of private associations on the conduct of foreign policy as great and as direct as in the United States. In no other country is the debate between the foreign policy maker and his critics, between government and interest groups, between the administration and the opposition more resonant than in the United States. A global foreign policy is a costly and risky enterprise; only a few countries can afford global foreign policies of their own, rather than foreign policies that are reactive to the global balance of power but incapable of changing it.
