The Influence of Public Opinion on Post-Cold War US Military Interventions [recurso electrónico

"Based on interviews with political decision-makers involved in post-Cold War case studies, this research reassesses the prevalent conclusion in the academic literature, according to which American public opinion has limited influence on military interventions, by including the level of commitment in the study of the decision-making process"-- Provided by publisher "Is the U.S. president free to wage a war? What is his leeway with respect to public opinion? The question of the influence of public opinion on military interventions is essential to understanding post-Cold War and post-9/11 conflicts; interventions often characterized by their long duration in distant countries with unclear strategic interests. If public opinion is often ready to give the President the leeway to embark on a military intervention, the public's tolerance is difficult to maintain in the long term when the troops are on the battlefield and victory appears difficult to define and achieve. In order to maintain public support as long as possible for interventions far away from Americans' day-to-day concerns, the United States often adapted its military strategy and tactics to the detriment of the desired objectives. As a result, and contrary to the predominant literature, this qualitative study concludes that public opinion often had a major impact on military interventions"-- Provided by publisher Front Matter....Pages i-xi Introduction....Pages 1-12 Front Matter....Pages 13-18 The Influence of Public Opinion on Military Interventions: Theoretical Approaches and Their Limits....Pages 19-30 Including Considerations with Military Strategy to the Study of the Influence of Public Opinion....Pages 31-61 Back Matter....Pages 63-64 Front Matter....Pages 65-68 Personal Preferences....Pages 69-86 The Intervention in Rwanda....Pages 87-93 The Intervention in Bosnia....Pages 95-107 The Intervention in Haiti....Pages 109-122 The Intervention in Afghanistan in 2001....Pages 123-126 The Intervention in Iraq in 2003....Pages 127-139 Back Matter....Pages 141-144 Front Matter....Pages 145-149 The Iraq Surge....Pages 151-164 The Afghan Surge....Pages 165-176 Back Matter....Pages 177-178 Conclusions and Implications....Pages 179-190 Back Matter....Pages 191-272