The Bush Administrations and Saddam Hussein Deciding on Conflict

The authors present a vital and unsettling analysis of the foreign policy-making processes of the two Bush administrations prior to the attacks on Iraq. In a systematic and thorough comparison, they show how both presidents used historical analogies to evaluate information, relied on instinct to formulate decisions, and drew on moral language to justify their choices.

Alex Roberto Hybel is the Susan Eckert Lynch Professor of Government at Connecticut College. Justin Matthew Kaufman develops applications of artificial intelligence systems to game theory.

Two Surprises, Two Wars, Two Presidents, One Family * Alternative Theories of Foreign Policy-Making * Two Harmful Surprises * The Logic of Surprise Versus The Logic of Surprise Avoidance * The Apple Sometimes Falls Close to the Tree * The Absence of a Rational Process Two Surprises, Two Wars, Two Presidents, One Family * Alternative Theories of Foreign Policy-Making * Two Harmful Surprises * The Logic of Surprise Versus The Logic of Surprise Avoidance * The Apple Sometimes Falls Close to the Tree * The Absence of a Rational Process