http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/666094384

Leaders at war how presidents shape military interventions

The use of military force to intervene in the domestic affairs of other states is one of the most contentious issues in contemporary foreign policy. He the author provides a framework for understanding when and why great powers seek to transform foreign institutions and societies through military interventions. She highlights a crucial but often-overlooked factor in international relations: the role of individual leaders. Focusing on the Cold War presidencies of Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson, it is shown that these leaders' threat perceptions influenced both the decision to intervene and the choice of intervention strategy--specifically, whether they believed that threats ultimately originated from the internal characteristics of other states. The author also explores this theory's applicability to other historical and contemporary settings including the post-Cold War period and the war in Iraq.

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