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Cingranelli, David Louis
1993.
Ethics, American Foreign Policy, and the Third World.
p.
69.
Article contents
Imposing a Standard: Covert Action and American Democracy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 September 2012
Abstract
Iran-contra and similar scandals alienate Congress and bypass the constitutional executive process. Treverton proposes four guidelines by which to test the effectiveness of covert actions undertaken by American presidents: (1) could the action stand exposure in midstream? (2) does intervention contradict overt U.S. policy? (3) what signal will be received, by whom, and with what result? (4) what if the first intervention does not succeed? The author urges presidents to abstain from implementing covert operations, which often result in nothing more than domestic and international controversy. Such decisions are the domain not of the Executive Office, but of the legitimate agency designated for such purposes, the CIA.
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- Ethics and Intervention
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- © Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs 1989
References
1 The distinction between prudential and ethical forms of argument has been pressed on me, first by my Harvard colleagues in a faculty seminar on ethics and public policy, especially Steven Kelman, Dennis Thompson, and Robert Reich, and then by my fellow participants in a faculty seminar, “Teaching Ethics: The Question of Covert Action in a Democracy,” sponsored by the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs. To both sets of colleagues I am gratefulGoogle Scholar.
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