Perception and Misperception in International Politics by Robert Jervis

Perception and Misperception in International Politics by Robert Jervis

This study of perception and misperception in foreign policy was a landmark in the application of cognitive psychology to political decision making. The New York Times called it, in an article published nearly ten years after the book's appearance, "the seminal statement of principles underlying political psychology." The perspective established by Jervis remains an important counterpoint to structural explanations of international politics, and from it has developed a large literature on the psychology of leaders and the problems of decision making under conditions of incomplete information, stress, and cognitive bias. Jervis begins by describing the process of perception (for example, how decision makers learn from history) and then explores common forms of misperception (such as overestimating one's influence). Finally, he tests his ideas through a number of important events in international relations from nineteenth- and twentieth-century European history. In a contemporary application of Jervis's ideas, some argue that Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990 in part because he misread the signals of American leaders with regard to the independence of Kuwait. Also, leaders of the United States and Iraq in the run-up to the most recent Gulf War might have been operating under cognitive biases that made them value certain kinds of information more than others, whether or not the information was true. Jervis proved that, once a leader believed something, that perception would influence the way the leader perceived all other relevant information.

"The best statement of the psychological position in the literature on international politicsHighly readable, informative, and thought-provoking."--Library Journal

Robert Jervis is the Adlai E. Stevenson Professor of International Politics at Columbia University. His books include How Statesmen Think: The Psychology of International Politics (2017). He is the executive editor of the International Security Studies Forum.

Francis J. Gavin is the Giovanni Agnelli Distinguished Professor and the inaugural director of the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. His books include Nuclear Statecraft: History and Strategy in America's Atomic Age (2012).

Joshua Rovner is associate professor in the School of International Service at American University. His books include Fixing the Facts: National Security and the Politics of Intelligence (2011).

Diane N. Labrosse is the National Security Archive H-Diplo Fellow and the H-Diplo executive and managing editor. She is also the senior managing editor of the International Security Studies Forum.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780691100494
ISBN 10	0691100497
Title	Perception and Misperception in International Politics
Author	Robert Jervis
Series	Center For International Affairs Harvard University
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Princeton University Press
Year published	1976-11-21
Number of pages	464
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.