Jervis examines the politics and psychology of two of the more spectacular intelligence failures in recent memory: the mistaken belief that the regime of the Shah in Iran was secure and stable in 1978, and the 2002 claim that Iraq had active WMD.  Meer

Jervis describes the process of perception (for example, how decision makers learn from history) and then explores common forms of misperception (such as overestimating one’s influence).  Meer

The domino theory has been the central organizing concept behind American containment strategy in the postwar period. This strategy was behind the involvement of America in the wars in Korea and Vietnam: neither country was of great economic, military, or cultural value to the US, yet policy-makers assumed that defeats against these nations might create precedents for areas of greater intrinsic interest.  Meer

To say that the world changed drastically on 9/11 has become a truism and even a cliché. But the incontestable fact is that a new era for both the world and US foreign policy began on that infamous day and the ramifications for international politics have been monumental.  Meer

To say that the world changed drastically on 9/11 has become a truism and even a cliché. But the incontestable fact is that a new era for both the world and US foreign policy began on that infamous day and the ramifications for international politics have been monumental.  Meer