Elizabeth N. Saunders's Books

Leaders at War

How Presidents Shape Military Interventions

By: Elizabeth N. Saunders

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Leaders at War

How Presidents Shape Military Interventions

By: Elizabeth N. Saunders

Examining the the role played by the threat perceptions of heads of state in national foreign and military policies.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

313

Publisher

Cornell University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0801460999

ISBN 13

9780801460999

The Insiders’ Game

How Elites Make War and Peace

By: Elizabeth N. Saunders

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Insiders’ Game

How Elites Make War and Peace

By: Elizabeth N. Saunders

One of the most important virtues of a democracy is that its leaders are accountable to the public, which presumably makes democracies more cautious about using military force and, ultimately, more peaceful. Yet how, then, are some leaders able to continue or even escalate wars in the face of strong or rising popular opposition, as Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon did in the later stages of the Vietnam War, and Barack Obama did in Afghanistan? In this book, Saunders argues that constraints on democratic leaders' decisions about war come not from the public but from elites, making war an "insiders' game." Saunders sees elites as a disparate group that can shape not only the decision about whether to enter a war but also how wars unfold. The insiders' game can sometimes result in elites effectively colluding with leaders in escalating a war with dim prospects; it can also occasionally lead to de-escalation or the end of a conflict. Saunders focuses first on the importance of elite influence (rather than public accountability) and on how the preferences of elites differ from those of the public. She homes in on three main groups of elites that shape almost every war-related decision democratic leaders make: legislators, military leaders, and high-level bureaucrats and advisers. She then goes on to look at how these dynamics have played out historically, looking at the cases of Lebanon, Afghanistan, Korea, and Vietnam, showing that leaders' political bargaining with elites is key to understanding the use of force in American foreign policy"--

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

344

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0691215812

ISBN 13

9780691215815

Leaders at War

How Presidents Shape Military Interventions

By: Elizabeth N. Saunders

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Leaders at War

How Presidents Shape Military Interventions

By: Elizabeth N. Saunders

One of the most contentious issues in contemporary foreign policy—especially in the United States—is the use of military force to intervene in the domestic affairs of other states. Some military interventions explicitly try to transform the domestic institutions of the states they target; others do not, instead attempting only to reverse foreign policies or resolve disputes without trying to reshape the internal landscape of the target state. In Leaders at War, Elizabeth N. Saunders provides a framework for understanding when and why great powers seek to transform foreign institutions and societies through military interventions. She highlights a crucial but often-overlooked factor in international relations: the role of individual leaders. Saunders argues that leaders' threat perceptions—specifically, whether they believe that threats ultimately originate from the internal characteristics of other states—influence both the decision to intervene and the choice of intervention strategy. These perceptions affect the degree to which leaders use intervention to remake the domestic institutions of target states. Using archival and historical sources, Saunders concentrates on U.S. military interventions during the Cold War, focusing on the presidencies of Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson. After demonstrating the importance of leaders in this period, she also explores the theory's applicability to other historical and contemporary settings including the post–Cold War period and the war in Iraq.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

315

Publisher

Cornell University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0801461472

ISBN 13

9780801461477

Leaders at War

How Presidents Shape Military Interventions

By: Elizabeth Nathan Saunders

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Leaders at War

How Presidents Shape Military Interventions

By: Elizabeth Nathan Saunders

Examining the the role played by the threat perceptions of heads of state in national foreign and military policies.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

302

Published Date

ISBN 10

0801449227

ISBN 13

9780801449222

Space and Spatial Analysis in Archaeology

By: University of Calgary. Archaeological Association. Conference,Elizabeth C. Robertson

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Space and Spatial Analysis in Archaeology

By: University of Calgary. Archaeological Association. Conference,Elizabeth C. Robertson

The archaeology of space and place is examined in this selection of papers from the 34th annual Chacmool Archaeological Conference.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

434

Publisher

UNM Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0826340229

ISBN 13

9780826340221

The Insiders’ Game

How Elites Make War and Peace

By: Elizabeth N. Saunders

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Insiders’ Game

How Elites Make War and Peace

By: Elizabeth N. Saunders

How elites shape the use of force in American foreign policy One of the most widely held views of democratic leaders is that they are cautious about using military force because voters can hold them accountable, ultimately making democracies more peaceful. How, then, are leaders able to wage war in the face of popular opposition, or end conflicts when the public still supports them? The Insiders’ Game sheds light on this enduring puzzle, arguing that the primary constraints on decisions about war and peace come from elites, not the public. Elizabeth Saunders focuses on three groups of elites—presidential advisers, legislators, and military officials—to show how the dynamics of this insiders’ game are key to understanding the use of force in American foreign policy. She explores how elite preferences differ from those of ordinary voters, and how leaders must bargain with elites to secure their support for war. Saunders provides insights into why leaders start and prolong conflicts the public does not want, but also demonstrates how elites can force leaders to change course and end wars. Tracing presidential decisions about the use of force from the Cold War through the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Saunders reveals how the elite politics of war are a central feature of democracy. The Insiders’ Game shifts the focus of democratic accountability from the voting booth to the halls of power.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

344

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0691215820

ISBN 13

9780691215822

Book's by Elizabeth N. Saunders

Leaders at War

Leaders at War

The Insiders’ Game

The Insiders’ Game

Leaders at War

Leaders at War

Leaders at War

Leaders at War

Space and Spatial Analysis in Archaeology

Space and Spatial Analysis in Archaeology

The Insiders’ Game

The Insiders’ Game

Username

Password

Username

Password

Password again

Birthday

Email