ISBN10: 0691078467, ISBN13: 9780691078465, [publisher: Princeton University Press] Hardcover From World War I to Operation Desert Storm, American policymakers have repeatedly invoked the "lessons of history" as they contemplated taking their nation to war. Do these historical analogies actually shape policy, or are they primarily tools of political justification? Yuen Foong Khong argues that leaders use analogies not merely to justify policies but also to perform specific cognitive and information-processing tasks essential to political decision-making. Khong identifies what these tasks are and shows how they can be used to explain the U.S. decision to intervene in Vietnam. Relying on interviews with senior officials and on recently declassified documents, the author demonstrates with a precision not attained by previous studies that the three most important analogies of the Vietnam era--Korea, Munich, and Dien Bien Phu--can account for America's Vietnam choices. A special contribution is the author's use of cognitive social psychology to support his argument about how humans analogize and to explain why policymakers often use analogies poorly.
[Houston, TX, U.S.A.] [Publication Year: 1992]

hardcover. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book. ISBN 0691078467 9780691078465 [US]

Princeton: Princeton University Press, Date: 1992. Hardcover. Octavo; VG-; Hardcover; Spine, green with gold print; Boards in green cloth, slight toning but clean and strong; Text block clean and tight; xi, 286 pages. NOTE: Shelved in Locked Glass Case, Aisle 10 Endcap. 1362752. FP New Rockville Stock. 1992. Princeton University Press ISBN 0691078467 US

Princeton Princeton University Press 1992 Hardcover Book. Octavo; VG-; Hardcover; Spine, green with gold print; Boards in green cloth, slight toning but clean and strong; Text block clean and tight; xi, 286 pages. NOTE: Shelved in Locked Glass Case, Aisle 10 Endcap. 1362752. FP New Rockville Stock.