The Impact of Public Opinion on U.S. Foreign Policy Since Vietnam

By Richard Sobel

Book Overview

How strongly does public opinion affect the making of U.S. foreign policy? In The Impact of Public Opinion on U.S. Foreign Policy Since Vietnam, Richard Sobel provides a compelling answer to this provocative question that has long stirred spirited debate among scholars, activists, and policymakers. The book explains how public attitudes have affected the making of U.S. foreign policy. It also explores the tension between theoretical views of what the role of public opinion should be in a democracy and the actual historical records. Focusing on four of the most prominent foreign interventions of the last generation--the Vietnam War, the Nicaraguan contra funding controversy, the Persian Gulf War, and the Bosnia crisis--the book demonstrates that public opinion constrained but did not set American foreign policy. The cases provide detailed information on the events, public attitudes, and policies for each of these four major U.S. conflicts. Sobel supports his argument with insights drawn from the words of decision-makers in public statements, records, and memoirs, as well as from interviews with three former secretaries of state and four former secretaries of defense. The book also explores how public sentiment about a specific crisis emerges over time and how it is often tied to the climate of interventionist and noninterventionist opinion. Clearly written, The Impact of Public Opinion on U.S. Foreign Policy Since Vietnam is an essential text for courses in American government, public opinion, political behavior, and American foreign policy. It will also have strong appeal to scholars, policy makers, and general readers who are interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the politics behind the most significant conflicts of recent times.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195105281
• ISBN13: 9780195105285
• Release Date: March 2001
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

The public has a say in foreign policy

This book is a study of the influence of public opinion on foreign policy making during the Vietnam war, the contra aid controversy, the Persian Gulf war, and the Bosnia crisis. The public opinion research is based on polls and the policy research on statements of and interviews with the actual decision makers. The book shows how public opinion influences major decisions about interventions. It argues that public opinion limits but doesn't set intervention policy. Clearly and simply written, the book explains a major part of how democracy works in U.S. foreign policy. I enjoyed and learned a lot from reading it.