Decision-Making During International Crises Book

National leaders are relied upon to guide the country safely through an international crisis, but it is rare that people, not in government, stop to consider the possible problems which national leaders come up against when embroiled in international crises. Stress, fatigue, factors of international law, personalities, dangers of escalation, communication difficulties and much more can all affect a leader's ability to decide upon an appropriate course of action and, in turn, the final conclusion to the crisis, be it peace or war. In today's nuclear world such constraints upon the generation, selection and implementation of alternative courses of action are all the more important. Dr Roberts identifies some of those constraints and then examines and explains them in terms of crises in which they are clearly identifiable. The majority of crises covered are post 1945, and those which involved the superpowers directly or indirectly, such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, Suez, the Berlin Crises. Others are chosen to illustrate a particular constraint clearly: July 1914, the Iranian Hostage Crisis and the Falklands Crisis of 1982.Read More