"In this book, Amy Zegart challenges the conventional belief that national security agencies are well designed to serve the national interest. Using a new institutionalist approach, Zegart asks what forces shaped the initial design of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the National Security Council in ways that meant they were handicapped from birth."--BOOK JACKET.

"Ironically, she finds that much of the blame can be ascribed to cherished features of American democracy - frequent elections, the separation of powers, majority rule, political compromise - all of which constrain presidential power and give Congress little incentive to create an effective foreign policy system.

At the same time, bureaucrats in rival departments had the expertise, the staying power, and the incentives to sabotage the creation of effective competitors, and this is exactly what they did."--BOOK JACKET. "In sum, the author paints an astonishing picture; the agencies Americans count on most to protect them from enemies abroad are, by design, largely incapable of doing so."--BOOK JACKET.