How does elitism affect foreign policy making?

In terms of background and experience, a remarkably homogeneous collection of people have made up America’s postwar foreign policy establishment.  Those with power, whether conferred by election or appointment to high office, become personally absorbed in the roles they play, let their egos and identity become involved with it, and become intoxicated with the sense of power, purpose, and importance they derive from the experience. After all, they find themselves making history, attended by press and public.  People become elite only because they occupy elite positions and not because, as they sometimes assume, they are inherently special. Individuals playing roles often become, in their own minds, the masks they wear. In this respect the impact of the office on the officeholder makes those in the foreign policy elite more alike than different.

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