Post-Cold War Reform Of The National Security Council Under U.S. Ldea Of "National Security"

U.S. foreign policy is largely determined by domestic politics. Therefore, only research from the domestic political system can we have a comprehensive and profound understanding of U.S. foreign policy. As the core agency making foreign policy, the National Security Council (NSC) has increasingly become the focus of academic attention. This agency has a history of over 60 years. In these 60 years, every president used to create their respective best internal conditions to reform NSC so as to make it better for the president to rely on in making foreign policy processes and provide better services for U.S. national security. Its reform not only affects U.S. national security but also has an impact on global security and the world's situation. Therefore, the research of Reform of U.S. NSC has a great practical significance.At present, both domestic and foreign research results are concentrated in the development, evolution and status of U.S. NSC. Moreover, they discuss the relevant factors affecting its development, including National Security Adviser. Therefore, this paper from the relatively new perspective, U.S. Idea of "National Security", uses system analysis and case analysis to discuss the reform process and actual impact of U.S. NSC from George H.W. Bush to Obama. And it makes the evaluation on Reform of U.S. NSC and rethinks U.S. national security. It also discusses the situation of every country establishing NSC and the feasibility if China establishes a similar agency.Except the introduction, the paper is divided into five parts. PartⅠis the basic thinking about the Idea of "National Security". Through the theoretical thinking of the definition of security and national security, threat awareness and identity construction, and combining with the reality of U.S; we lay a foundation for a later discussion. PartⅡand PartⅢare to analyze Reform of the NSC under the Idea of "National Security" from George H.W. Bush to Obama. These two parts follow the same analytical framework:security environment→threat awareness→the Idea of "National Security"→Reform of the NSC→case analysis. Such chain analyzes the deeper connections of U.S. national security decision-making process by means of combining with the dialectical logic and provides full argument for discussion through actual cases analyses. PartⅣis to make performance evaluation on Reform of U.S. NSC and rethink U.S. national security. NSC plays a positive role in the efficiency of responding to crises and maintaining national security. It also has a negative effect on domestic politics which is too large power, too wide-ranging functions and breaking away from the initial functions. The rethinking of national security is that the Idea of "National Security" has a systematic development which follows the traditional political culture and foreign policy intellectual tradition. On the other hand, the means of seeking for national security under unchanged core values and expanded meaning is flexible. PartⅤis to make a summary of the previous parts and to discuss whether China will establish a similar agency by comparing and contrasting China with the U.S. At present, Reform of the NSC from the perspective of U.S. "National Security" is less or not researched in our country. Meanwhile, the innovation and difficulty of this paper are that it breaks the traditional framework of research of Reform of the NSC. The discussion of the entire paper mainly emphasizes on the interaction of the moral and the material aspects and does not break up the relationship between them that has relatively big difficulty in analysis.After the Cold War, U.S has a different understanding and interpretation of "National Security" in different periods and governments. Moreover, the Idea of "National Security" has evolved and expanded in accordance with its unchanged core values----to maintain hegemony and democracy. Based on the understanding of threat in different periods, the George H.W. Bush administration forms the Idea of "National Security" of "Collective Security" features under U.S. leadership; the Clinton administration forms "Cooperative Security"; the George W. Bush administration forms "Absolute Security" and "Homeland Security"; and the Obama administration forms "Common Security". Under the guidance of the Idea of "National Security" in different periods, every president reforms NSC fallowing the system of the White House as the centre to have a continuous development. President George H.W. Bush makes adjustment to the structure of the NSC, which was divided into three levels. Afterwards, The NSC Principal Committee and The NSC Deputies Committee maintain few changes on their functions. But the third level as The NSC Inter-Agency Coordination Committee, its denomination changes, its setup changes in addition. Meanwhile, the paper through appropriate cases analyses including the Gulf War, the Taiwan Strait Crisis, the Iraq War and the U.S. Financial Reform. These give a deeper discussion on NSC playing the role in practice after the reform, how the core values throughout, and how the evolutionary Idea of "National Security" gives the guidance of the mode of action.Through the above analyses, we can make a more detailed performance evaluation of Reform of the NSC, which mainly embodies three aspects:the leadership style of President and the ability of ministers is one of the key factors of Reform of the NSC; there is an overlapping of functions among NSC, State Department, Homeland Security Committee, Department of Defense, Homeland Security and other departments, and the reform plays a coordinating role in sectors; and NSC makes a significant effect in safeguarding national security and other fields. On this basis, we will rethink U.S. national security:the idea is comprehensive and systematic, and the means is flexible. Although the functions of U.S. NSC and National Security Adviser become more and more powerful, the President deeply trusts the NSC meeting, and NSC plays a major role in making national security policy. It makes crisis management become more efficient. At present, about 20 countries have established NSC. However, the effectiveness is not ideal as it is affected by diversity of institution's situations. There is also distance between China and U.S at the political system, values and so on. Therefore, we need to make more in-depth research whether China will establish a similar agency.