Why Leaders Lie : The Truth About Lying in International Politics

For more than two decades, John J. Mearsheimer has been regarded as one of the foremost realist thinkers on foreign policy. Clear and incisive as well as a fearlessly honest analyst, his coauthored 2007 __New York Times__ bestseller, __The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy__, aroused a firestorm with its unflinching look at the making of America's Middle East policy. Now he takes a look at another controversial but understudied aspect of international relations: lying.In __Why Leaders Lie,__ Mearsheimer provides the first systematic analysis of lying as a tool of statecraft, identifying the varieties, the reasons, and the potential costs and benefits. Drawing on a wealth of examples, he argues that leaders often lie for good strategic reasons, so a blanket condemnation is unrealistic and unwise. Yet there are other kinds of deception besides lying, including concealment and spinning. Perhaps no distinction is more important than that between lying to another state and lying to one's own people. Mearsheimer was amazed to discover how unusual interstate lying has been; given the atmosphere of distrust among the great powers, he found that outright deceit is difficult to pull off and thus rarely worth the effort. Moreover, it sometimes backfires when it does occur. Khrushchev lied about the size of the Soviet missile force, sparking an American build-up. Eisenhower was caught lying about U-2 spy flights in 1960, which scuttled an upcoming summit with Krushchev. Leaders are more likely to mislead their own publics than other states, sometimes with damaging consequences. Though the reasons may be noble--Franklin Roosevelt, for example, lied to the American people about German U-boats attacking the destroyer USS Greer in 1940, to build a case for war against Hitler-they can easily lead to disaster, as with the Bush administration's falsehoods about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. There has never been a sharp analysis of international lying. Now a leading expert provides a richly informed and powerfully argued work that will change our understanding of why leaders lie For more than two decades, John J. Mearsheimer has been regarded as one of the foremost realist thinkers on foreign policy. Clear and incisive as well as a fearlessly honest analyst, his coauthored 2007 New York Times bestseller, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, aroused a firestorm with its unflinching look at the making of America's Middle East policy. Now he takes a look at another controversial but understudied aspect of international relations: lying. In Why Leaders Lie , Mearsheimer provides the first systematic analysis of lying as a tool of statecraft, identifying the varieties, the reasons, and the potential costs and benefits. Drawing on a wealth of examples, he argues that leaders often lie for good strategic reasons, so a blanket condemnation is unrealistic and unwise. Yet there are other kinds of deception besides lying, including concealment and spinning. Perhaps no distinction is more important than that between lying to another state and lying to one's own people. Mearsheimer was amazed to discover how unusual interstate lying has been; given the atmosphere of distrust among the great powers, he found that outright deceit is difficult to pull off and thus rarely worth the effort. Moreover, it sometimes backfires when it does occur. Khrushchev lied about the size of the Soviet missile force, sparking an American build-up. Eisenhower was caught lying about U-2 spy flights in 1960, which scuttled an upcoming summit with Krushchev. Leaders are more likely to mislead their own publics than other states, sometimes with damaging consequences. Though the reasons may be noble--Franklin Roosevelt, for example, lied to the American people about German U-boats attacking the destroyer USS Greer in 1940, to build a case for war against Hitler-they can easily lead to disaster, as with the Bush administration's falsehoods about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. There has never been a sharp analysis of international lying. Now a leading expert provides a richly informed and powerfully argued work that will change our understanding of why leaders lie. For more than two decades, John J. Mearsheimer has been regarded as one of the foremost realist thinkers on foreign policy. Clear and incisive, a fearlessly honest analyst, his coauthored 2007 New York Times bestseller, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, aroused a firestorm with its unflinching look at the making of America's Middle East policy. Now he takes a look at another controversial but understudied aspect of international relations: lying. In Why Leaders Lie, Mearsheimer provides the first systematic analysis of lying as a tool of statecraft, identifying the varieties, the reasons, and the potential costs and benefits. Drawing on a trove of examples, he argues that leaders often lie for good strategic reasons, so a blanket condemnation is unrealistic and unwise. Yet there are other kinds of deception besides lying, including concealment and spinning. Perhaps no distinction is more important than that between lying to another state and lying to one's own people. Mearsheimer was amazed to discover how unusual interstate lying has been; given the atmosphere of distrust among the great powers, he found that outright deceit is difficult to pull off and thus rarely worth the effort. Plus it sometimes backfires when it does occur. Khrushchev lied about the size of the Soviet missile force, sparking an American build-up. Eisenhower got caught lying about U-2 spy flights in 1960, which scuttled an upcoming summit with Krushchev. Leaders more often mislead their own publics, sometimes with damaging consequences. Though the reasons may be noble--Franklin Roosevelt, for example, lied to the American people about German U-boats attacking the destroyer Greer in 1940, to build a case for war against Hitler-they can easily lead to disaster, as with the Bush administration's falsehoods about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. There has never been a sharp analysis of international lying. Now a leading expert fills the gap with a richly informed and powerfully argued book. WHY LEADERS LIE 1 Contents 3 Preface 4 Introduction 11 THE TASK AHEAD 20 THE MAIN ARGUMENTS AND THE ROAD MAP 23 CHAPTER l 26 What is Lying? 26 CHAPTER 2 34 The Inventory of International Lies 34 CHAPTER 3 39 Lying between States 39 WHY STATES LIE TO EACH OTHER 46 WHEN STATES TELL EACH OTHER LIES 63 CHAPTER 4 67 Fearmongering 67 WHY LEADERS FEARMONGER 81 WHEN ELITES ARE LIKELY TO FEARMONGER 87 CHAPTER 5 91 Strategic Cover-ups 91 WHY LEADERS ENGAGE IN STRATEGIC COVER-UPS 92 WHEN STRATEGIC COVER-UPS ARE LIKELY 98 CHAPTER 6 101 Nationalist Myths 101 WHY ELITES CREATE NATIONALIST MYTHS 101 WHEN ELITES ENGAGE IN NATIONALIST MYTHMAKING 105 CHAPTER 7 109 Liberal Lies 109 WHY ELITES TELL LIBERAL LIES 113 WHEN LIBERAL LYING IS LIKELY 115 CHAPTER 8 116 The Downside of Telling International Lies 116 THE DANGERS OF INTER-STATE LYING 120 THE PERILS OF FEARMONGERING 126 THE HAZARDS OF STRATEGIC COVER-UPS 129 THE RISKS OF NATIONALIST MYTHMAKING 132 THE POTENTIAL COSTS OF LIBERAL LIES 135 CHAPTER 9 137 Conclusion 137 Notes 143 Preface 143 Introduction 143 Chapter 1 147 Chapter 2 149 Chapter 3 150 Chapter 4 160 Chapter 5 172 Chapter 6 175 Chapter 7 177 Chapter 8 180 Chapter 9 184 15 What Is Lying? -- The Inventory Of International Lies -- Lying Between States -- Fearmongering -- Strategic Cover-ups -- Nationalist Myths -- Liberal Lies -- The Downside Of Telling International Lies. John J. Mearsheimer. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Presents an analysis of the lying behavior of political leaders, discussing the reasons why it occurs, the different types of lies, and the costs and benefits to the public and other countries that result from it, with examples from the recent past.