American Public Opinion on the Iraq War

American Public Opinion on the Iraq War PDF Author: Ole R. Holsti
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
Shifts in public opinion have had an impact on U.S. foreign policy

American Public Opinion on the Iraq War

American Public Opinion on the Iraq War PDF Author: Ole R. Holsti
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 242

Get Book Here

Book Description
Shifts in public opinion have had an impact on U.S. foreign policy

The Iraq War and Democratic Politics

The Iraq War and Democratic Politics PDF Author: Alex Danchev
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134265697
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 283

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Book Description
This book examines the meaning of the 2003 Iraq war for democratic politics. It shuns simplistic analysis and provides a nuanced and critical overview of this key moment in global politics.

The Iraq War and Democratic Governance

The Iraq War and Democratic Governance PDF Author: Judith Betts
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030503194
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
This book examines the decisions by Tony Blair and John Howard to take their nations into the 2003 Iraq War, and the questions these decisions raise about democratic governance. It also explores the significance of the US alliance in UK and Australian decision-making, and the process for taking a nation to war. Relying on primary government documents and interviews, and bringing together various strands of literature that have so far been discussed in isolation (including historical accounts, party politics, prime ministerial leadership and intelligence studies), the authors provide a comprehensive and original view on the various post-war inquiries conducted in the UK, Australia.

War and Democratic Constraint

War and Democratic Constraint PDF Author: Matthew A. Baum
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691165238
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
Why do some democracies reflect their citizens' foreign policy preferences better than others? What roles do the media, political parties, and the electoral system play in a democracy's decision to join or avoid a war? War and Democratic Constraint shows that the key to how a government determines foreign policy rests on the transmission and availability of information. Citizens successfully hold their democratic governments accountable and a distinctive foreign policy emerges when two vital institutions—a diverse and independent political opposition and a robust media—are present to make timely information accessible. Matthew Baum and Philip Potter demonstrate that there must first be a politically potent opposition that can blow the whistle when a leader missteps. This counteracts leaders' incentives to obscure and misrepresent. Second, healthy media institutions must be in place and widely accessible in order to relay information from whistle-blowers to the public. Baum and Potter explore this communication mechanism during three different phases of international conflicts: when states initiate wars, when they respond to challenges from other states, or when they join preexisting groups of actors engaged in conflicts. Examining recent wars, including those in Afghanistan and Iraq, War and Democratic Constraint links domestic politics and mass media to international relations in a brand-new way.

Deceit on the Road to War

Deceit on the Road to War PDF Author: John M. Schuessler
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501701614
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
In Deceit on the Road to War, John M. Schuessler examines how U.S. presidents have deceived the American public about fundamental decisions of war and peace. Deception has been deliberate, he suggests, as presidents have sought to shift blame for war onto others in some cases and oversell its benefits in others. Such deceit is a natural outgrowth of the democratic process, in Schuessler's view, because elected leaders have powerful incentives to maximize domestic support for war and retain considerable ability to manipulate domestic audiences. They can exploit information and propaganda advantages to frame issues in misleading ways, cherry-pick supporting evidence, suppress damaging revelations, and otherwise skew the public debate to their benefit. These tactics are particularly effective before the outbreak of war, when the information gap between leaders and the public is greatest.When resorting to deception, leaders take a calculated risk that the outcome of war will be favorable, expecting the public to adopt a forgiving attitude after victory is secured. The three cases featured in the book—Franklin Roosevelt and World War II, Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam War, and George W. Bush and the Iraq War—test these claims. Schuessler concludes that democracies are not as constrained in their ability to go to war as we might believe and that deception cannot be ruled out in all cases as contrary to the national interest.

The Iraq War and Democratic Politics

The Iraq War and Democratic Politics PDF Author: Alex Danchev
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134265689
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 520

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Book Description
The Iraq War and Democratic Politics contains the work of leading scholars concerned with the political implications of the Iraq War and its relationship to and significance for democracy. The book shuns simplistic analysis and provides a nuanced and critical overview of this key moment in global politics. Subjects covered include: * the underlying moral and political issues raised by the war * US foreign policy and the Middle East * the fundamental dilemmas and contradictions of democratic intervention * how the war was perceived in the UK, EU and US * the challenges of creating democracy inside Iraq * the influential role of NGOs * the legitimacy of the war within international law * the relationship between democratic government and intelligence.

Sectarian Politics in the Gulf

Sectarian Politics in the Gulf PDF Author: Frederic M. Wehrey
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231536100
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 351

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Book Description
One of Foreign Policy's Best Five Books of 2013, chosen by Marc Lynch of The Middle East Channel Beginning with the 2003 invasion of Iraq and concluding with the aftermath of the 2011 Arab uprisings, Frederic M. Wehrey investigates the roots of the Shi'a-Sunni divide now dominating the Persian Gulf's political landscape. Focusing on three Gulf states affected most by sectarian tensions—Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait—Wehrey identifies the factors that have exacerbated or tempered sectarianism, including domestic political institutions, the media, clerical establishments, and the contagion effect of external regional events, such as the Iraq war, the 2006 Lebanon conflict, the Arab uprisings, and Syria's civil war. In addition to his analysis, Wehrey builds a historical narrative of Shi'a activism in the Arab Gulf since 2003, linking regional events to the development of local Shi'a strategies and attitudes toward citizenship, political reform, and transnational identity. He finds that, while the Gulf Shi'a were inspired by their coreligionists in Iraq, Iran, and Lebanon, they ultimately pursued greater rights through a nonsectarian, nationalist approach. He also discovers that sectarianism in the region has largely been the product of the institutional weaknesses of Gulf states, leading to excessive alarm by entrenched Sunni elites and calculated attempts by regimes to discredit Shi'a political actors as proxies for Iran, Iraq, or Lebanese Hizballah. Wehrey conducts interviews with nearly every major Shi'a leader, opinion shaper, and activist in the Gulf Arab states, as well as prominent Sunni voices, and consults diverse Arabic-language sources.

Public Opinion, Legitimacy and Tony Blair’s War in Iraq

Public Opinion, Legitimacy and Tony Blair’s War in Iraq PDF Author: James Strong
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1315513994
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 203

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Book Description
In the wake of the publication of the Chilcot report, this book reinterprets the relationship between British public opinion and the Blair government’s decision-making in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It highlights how the government won the parliamentary vote and got its war, but never won the argument that it was the right thing to do. Understanding how, why and with what consequences Britain wound up in this position means understanding better both this specific case and the wider issue of how democratic publics influence foreign policy processes. Taking an innovative constructivist approach to understanding how public actors potentially influence foreign policy, Strong frames the debate about Iraq as a contest over legitimacy among active public actors, breaking it down into four constituent elements covering the necessity, legality and morality of war, and the government’s authority. The book presents a detailed empirical account of the British public debate before the invasion of Iraq based on the rigorous interrogation of thousands of primary sources, employing both quantitative and qualitative content analysis methods to interpret the shape of debate between January 2002 and March 2003. Also contributing to the wider foreign policy analysis literature, the book investigates the domestic politics of foreign policy decision-making, and particularly the influence public opinion exerts; considers the domestic structural determinants of foreign policy decision-making; and studies the ethics of foreign policy decision-making, and the legitimate use of force. It will be of great use to students and scholars of foreign policy analysis, as well as those interested in legitimacy in international conflict, British foreign policy, the Iraq War and the role of public opinion in conflict situations.

Explaining the Iraq War

Explaining the Iraq War PDF Author: Frank P. Harvey
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139503626
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 361

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Book Description
The almost universally accepted explanation for the Iraq War is very clear and consistent - the US decision to attack Saddam Hussein's regime on March 19, 2003 was a product of the ideological agenda, misguided priorities, intentional deceptions and grand strategies of President George W. Bush and prominent 'neoconservatives' and 'unilateralists' on his national security team. Despite the widespread appeal of this version of history, Frank P. Harvey argues that it remains an unsubstantiated assertion and an underdeveloped argument without a logical foundation. His book aims to provide a historically grounded account of the events and strategies which pushed the US-UK coalition towards war. The analysis is based on both factual and counterfactual evidence, combines causal mechanisms derived from multiple levels of analysis and ultimately confirms the role of path dependence and momentum as a much stronger explanation for the sequence of decisions that led to war.

Dirty Politics?

Dirty Politics? PDF Author: Steven Kettell
Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.
ISBN: 184813648X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
Britain's participation in the Iraq war defines one of the most tumultuous periods in its political history. Driven by a desire to enhance the influence of the British government on the world stage, the decision to support the US-led invasion has severely disrupted the stability of international relations, produced rising disenchantment with the domestic political process, and has threatened to undermine the continued viability of the New Labour project. Yet these developments are also indicative of a far-deeper malaise. The events surrounding the war have clearly exposed the flaws and weaknesses that are inherent within the British democratic system. A deep-seated adherence to a top-down style of policy-making at the expense of more participatory and accountable forms of governance has been amplified by the internal structures of the New Labour government itself. The consequences have left an indelible mark on Britain's political landscape that will endure for many years.