Explaining Foreign Policy: U.S. Decision-Making and the Persian Gulf War

Extract

Explaining Foreign Policy: U.S. Decision-Making and the Persian Gulf War. By Steven A. Yetiv. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004. 296p. $49.95 cloth, $19.95 paper.

Steven A. Yetiv faces a daunting task in this case study of the 1990–91 Persian Gulf War: applying and reconciling multiple approaches to foreign policy analysis in a single volume. He also hopes to clarify the historical record regarding President George H. W. Bush's performance in the diplomatic and military clash. While this ambitious study advances our understanding in both respects, it demonstrates how much further the field of foreign policy analysis must still progress to see clearly within the “black box” of state decision making.