The Role of the National Security Adviser
Appendixes

Oral History Roundtable, The NSC Project, October 25, 1999

Read the introduction, view more information on the participants, or download the entire transcript (PDF: 220 kb).

Appendix A - Agenda

The agenda consisted of the following list of questions, distributed to the participants in advance of the meeting:

  1. How can the national security adviser best balance his role as honest broker of the interagency process and policy adviser to the president?

  2. To what degree should the national security adviser have a public persona by briefing reporters, making speeches, and appearing for interviews on television and other media?

  3. What is the appropriate relationship between the national security adviser and the secretary of state?

  4. How should the National Security Council be staffed in terms of the kind of people appointed and the type of functions they fulfill?

  5. Is the long-accepted job description of the national security adviser obsolete and, if so, how should it be changed?
Appendix B - Interview with Robert C. McFarlane

See transcript for interview text. This interview was conducted on November 1, 1999, by Ivo H. Daalder and I. M. Destler.

Appendix C - Interview with General Colin L. Powell

See transcript for interview text. This interview was conducted on November 23, 1999, by Ivo H. Daalder.

Appendix D - Interview with Vice Admiral John M. Poindexter

See transcript for interview text. This interview was conducted on March 29, 2000, by Ivo H. Daalder and I. M. Destler.

Appendix E - Interview with Samuel R. Berger

See transcript for interview text. This interview was conducted on April 13, 2001, by Ivo H. Daalder and I. M. Destler.

© Copyright 1999, The Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM)

Note: The views expressed in this piece are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the staff, officers or trustees of the Brookings Institution.