Why Leaders Choose War

Preventive war has a long history in international politics, but until it became an instrumental part of the Bush Doctrine, it was mostly overlooked. Renshon argues that the best avenue for understanding decisions to initiate preventive action is through a close examination of the individual leader responsible for such decisions. In this work, he develops a theory of psychological motivations for preventive action. By examining five situations, including the Iraq war, he pinpoints the factors that matter most in decisions to take preventive military action.

Foreword by Alexander L. George
Preface
Preventive War: An Introduction
Preventing What? The Suez Canal Crisis
Israel's Preventive Strike Against Iraq
How Real Was Dr. Strangelove? American Preventive War Thinking Post World War II
To the Brink... India and Pakistan's Nuclear Standoff
Preventive War as a Grand Strategy? George W. Bush and "Operation Iraqi Freedom"
Preventive War in Perspective
Epilogue: Preventive War in the Age of Terrorism and Rogue States
Notes
Bibliography
Index