Rhetoric before Reality: Loose Lips Sink Ships

Reflections on Clinton’s Grand Strategy

“…and then try to construct a policy that fi ts it." 85 Such an assault on the manner in which foreign policy was devised revealed a lack of insight into the evolution of policy and totally misconstrued the president's remarks, which had conceded not that there was no policy, but rather that the White House had failed to reduce its policy to a simple expression, necessary to engage the general public. In every sense, Clarke failed to appreciate the manner in which policy had been devised and the importance of conveying a message to the media and the world at large.…”