A Novel Analysis of the Integrated Country Strategies for Malawi and Zimbabwe

The United States Embassy Harare needs to identify innovative ways to affect systems-level changes that advance US interests in Zimbabwe.¹ Domestic and foreign laws, plans, policies, programs, regulations, standards, and strategies can serve as inspiration for such innovation in its strategic planning process. This article reports the findings of a novel analysis conducted on the linkages that are declared in the Integrated Country Strategy Zimbabwe (ICS Zimbabwe) and the Integrated Country Strategy Malawi (ICS Malawi). Among other things, it finds that the US Embassy Harare declared far fewer linkages than the US. Embassy Lilongwe. These are puzzling findings. The US Embassy Harare needs to work with a large number of horizontal, vertical, and diagonal partners in order to achieve its own goals and objectives. Why then are there so few linkages declared in its country-level foreign policy plan? Is it because the U.S. foreign policy planning process is poorly designed? Or, is it because the U.S. foreign policy planning process is poorly managed? The United States Congress possesses the oversight powers to seek answers to those questions. On the basis of this exploratory study, the author recommends that it makes use of them.