Invincible Ignorance in American Foreign Policy The Triumph of Ideology Over Evidence
Invincible Ignorance in American Foreign Policy: The Triumph of Ideology Over Evidence by Robert P. Newman, published by Peter Lang in 2013, offers a critical examination of significant post-World War II American foreign policy decisions. This 192-page book explores how ideological biases, including chauvinism and anti-Communism, influenced decision-making processes, often overshadowing available evidence. Newman reviews nine pivotal situations, highlighting the disconnect between the facts known to decision-makers and the ideologies that ultimately guided their actions.
Readers will find a collection of analytical essays that traverse the post-war era, from the decision to use atomic weapons in Hiroshima to the complexities surrounding Bush’s policies in Iraq. The book draws on government documents and scholarly analyses, presenting a thorough critique of how ideology can distort rational decision-making in the realms of government and military actions. Through Newman’s incisive arguments, the text engages with themes of decision-making, communication studies, and the historical context of American foreign policy, providing a nuanced perspective on the interplay between ideology and evidence.
Official synopsis Publisher
This book is a review of major post-World War II American foreign policy decisions made by authorities who were blinded by ideology. In each of the nine situations examined, accurate evidence was available and even known to many of the decision makers, but chauvinism, anti-Communism, or willful left-wing or right-wing ideological predilections carried the day. In the preface, Newman takes as his guiding light the words of Corey Robin: «The twentieth century, it’s said, taught us a simple lesson about politics: of all the motivations for political action, none is as lethal as ideology. The lust for money may be distasteful, the desire for power ignoble, but neither will drive its devotees to the criminal excess of an idea on the march.»
The analytical-critical essays comprising this volume sweep across the post-war period, from the Hiroshima decision through Bush and Iraq. Government documents, scholarly analyses, and Newman’s own acerbic arguments both entertain and inform readers.
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