Choosing Your Battles

by Feaver, Peter D.; Gelpi, Christopher

• ISBN13: 9780691124278
• ISBN10: 0691124272
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-08-22
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

America's debate over whether and how to invade Iraq clustered into civilian versus military camps. Top military officials appeared reluctant to use force, the most hawkish voices in government were civilians who had not served in uniform, and everyone was worried that the American public would not tolerate casualties in war. This book shows that this civilian-military argument--which has characterized earlier debates over Bosnia, Somalia, and Kosovo--is typical, not exceptional. Indeed, the underlying pattern has shaped U.S. foreign policy at least since 1816. The new afterword by Peter Feaver and Christopher Gelpi traces these themes through the first two years of the current Iraq war, showing how civil-military debates and concerns about sensitivity to casualties continue to shape American foreign policy in profound ways.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables	vii
Preface	xi
Introduction	1	(20)
The Civil-Military Opinion Gap over the Use of Force	21	(43)
The Impact of Elite Veterans on American Decisions to Use Force	64	(31)
Casualty Sensitivity and Civil-Military Relations	95	(54)
Exploring the Determinants of Casualty Sensitivity	149	(35)
Conclusion	184	(31)
References	215	(14)
Afterword	229	(14)
Name Index	243	(4)
Subject Index	247