Four Big Risks From Bolton's National Security Council Purge

Give John Bolton credit for one thing: He knows how to make an entrance. During his first week on the job, the new national security adviser has initiated a purge of the National Security Council staff, pushing several top aides to resign, with more departures likely on the way. This internal shakeup is fully within Bolton’s prerogatives, and it is surely intended to get a notoriously discordant administration singing from the same sheet of music. In reality, however, it may just exacerbate the challenges that administration faces in executing a competent foreign policy.

The officials who make up the top ranks of the NSC staff -- as distinct from the agency and department heads that make up the president’s cabinet -- are often little-known outside of the Washington policy community. Yet because they help helm the interagency process by which decisions are made and implemented, they play a critical role in shaping the nation’s statecraft. And Bolton has moved expeditiously to clear out the highest-ranking NSC staffers below him.