The Bush Doctrine is dead! At least that’s what critics hope. But while new U.S. national security challenges emerge, many post-9/11 threats still persist and the policies of George W. Bush offer one set of strategic answers for how President Obama can confront those dangers. Neither a polemic nor a whitewash, this book provides a careful analysis of the Bush Doctrine—its development, application, and rationale—and assesses its legacy: How will Obama respond to the many foreign policy challenges that await him? Through an examination of psychology as much as policy, Renshon gives us the first comparative analysis of the Bush Doctrine and the developing Obama Doctrine. The book analyzes the range of national security issues Obama will face and the political divisions that permeate U.S. national security debates. It is essential reading for anyone looking to understand how presidents assess security risks generally and how Obama specifically is likely to adapt the Bush Doctrine to his own worldview.

In this volume, leading scholars of U.S. foreign policy, international relations, and political psychology examine one of the most consequential and controversial statements of national security policy in contemporary American history. Unlike other books which focus only on unilateralism or preventive war, Stanley A. Renshon and Peter Suedfeld provide a comprehensive framework with which to analyze the Bush Doctrine by identifying five central and interrelated elements of the doctrine: American pre-eminence assertive realism equivocal alliances selective multilateralism democratic transformation. Given its centrality to American national security, and the fact that the effects of it are likely to be felt well into the twenty-first century, Understanding the Bush Doctrine provides a critically balanced and pointed assessment of the Bush Doctrine and its premises, as well as a fair appraisal of its implications and prospects.

A psychological profile of George W. Bush describes how his privileged childhood became an obstacle to his political ambitions, his efforts to transform himself, and his passion to change America and the world by promoting the nation's best attributes. Reprint.

Product Description: The United States is the only nation in the world that allows its citizens to hold one or more foreign citizenships, vote in another nation's elections, run for or be appointed to office in another country, and join the armed forces even of a nation with interests hostile to those of the U...read more

Product Description: At the heart of political leadership lies choice. And at the heart of choice lies judgment. A leader's psychology and experience intersect with political realities to produce consequences that can make or break a leader―or a country...read more

Product Description: America has always taken a coherent national identity for granted. In recent decades that assumption has been challanged. Individual and group rights have expanded, eliciting acerbic debate about the legitimacy and limits of claims...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: With enormous numbers of new immigrants, America is becoming dramatically more diverse racially, culturally, and ethnically. As a result, the United States faces questions that have profound consequences for its future. What does it mean to be an American? Is a new American identity developing? At the same time, the coherence of national culture has been challenged by the expansion of - and attacks on - individual and group rights, and by political leaders who prefer to finesse rather than engage cultural controversies...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: Military force transforms political institutions, branches of government continually battle for power and position, leaders rise and leaders fall, but the key to the dynamics of these phenomena-the psychology of our political leaders, and that underlying most political processes-remains one of the most understudied aspects of political life...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: Military force transforms political institutions, branches of government continually battle for power and position, leaders rise and leaders fall, but the key to the dynamics of these phenomena-the psychology of our political leaders, and that underlying most political processes-remains one of the most understudied aspects of political life...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Debate on public issues--and where candidates stand on them-- have traditionally represented the focal point of presidential campaigns. In recent decades, however, rather than asking where candidates stand on the issues, the public increasingly wants to know who they are. The issue of character has thus come to dominate presidential elections. While there is increasing public awareness that the psychology, judgment, and leadership qualities of presidential candidates count, the basis on which these judgments should made remains unclear. Does it matter that Gary Hart changed his name or had an affair? Should Ed Muskie's loss of composure while defending his wife during a campaign speech, or Thomas Eagleton's hospitalization for depression, have counted against them? Looking back over the past 25 years, Stanley Renshon, a political scientist and psychoanalyst, provides the first comprehensive accounting of how character has become an increasingly important issue in a presidential campaign. He traces two related but distinctive approaches to the issue of presidential character and psychology. The first concerns the mental health of our candidates and presidents. Are they emotionally and personally stable? Is their temperament suitable for the presidency? The second concerns character. Is the candidate honest? Does he possess the necessary judgment and motivation to deal with the tremendous responsibilities and pressures of the office? Drawing on his clinical and political science training, Renshon has devised a theory which will allow the public to better evaluate presidential candidates. Why are honesty, integrity, and personal ideals so important in judging candidates? Is personal and political ambition necessarily a bad trait? Do extra-marital affairs really matter? Finally, and most importantly, how can the public tell whether a candidate's leadership will be enhanced or impeded by aspects of his personality?With this sweeping volume, Stanley Renshon has provided us with the most comprehensive account to date of how the public judges, and should judge, our future presidents.

Applies psychoanalytic theory to Clinton's personality and behavior, examining the expression of his childhood challenges and other experiences in his political life

Product Description: The Clinton presidency faced a basic set of public questions at the outset regarding its real intentions, strategies, and competence. Would the administration be able to develop and implement policies that were constructive in intent, fair in formulation, and successful in result? Would President Clinton be able to govern as successfully as he campaigned? Would there be a productive fit between Clinton’s leadership style and the needs of the public?Additional questions arise about Clinton personally...read more

Product Description: In these original essays, widely respected experts analyze the personal psychologies and public belief systems of the individuals and nations involved in the Gulf War - from George Bush and Saddam Hussein to the peoples of the United States, Israel, and Arab countries...read more

A political scientist assesses the implications of an individual's desire to exercise personal control which he identifies as a prime motive for political involvement