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Why Leaders Lie. John Mearsheimer (2011)

by John J. Mearsheimer(Favorite Author)

3.35 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0715641565 (ISBN13: 9780715641569)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Duckworth Publishing

review 1: The books talks about lying as a political tool. The author focuses on the lies that leaders tell because they think that it is the best for their countries rather than the ones that they use for personal gain. He classifies political lying into five types:1- Lying between states2- Fearmongering (inflaming a threat to go to war)3- Strategic cover-ups (covering failures of a policy) 4- Nationalist myths (glorifying the past and putting rival states in a bad light) 5- Liberal lies (lying about policies that contradicts the values and morals of the country)He discuses each lie in detail and why politicians use them and when they are likely to be used. He also talks about the affect of these lies on the national and international stages.What is good about this book is that ... morerather than focusing on theories, the author supports his arguments with historical events. Even though, the book is small, it has a lot of references and sources for anyone who wants to read more about the topic.
review 2: John Mearsheimer is the guy who, with Steve Walt, wrote the groundbreaking book, The Israel Lobby back in 2006, a five star effort that every American should read.I eagerly opened Why Leaders Lie for more of the author's good thinking. It's present and this book is effortless to read but it's more like a handout one would receive from a professor in a course on political science.Of course, Mearsheimer IS a professor and he makes his points clearly, yet what he says seems obvious. The principle point I took from this book is that lying can be addictive. Once it is practiced in one area with some success, a politician will be tempted to expand lying into other areas as well. Good point, but who needs a book, even a short one like this, to figure that out?Ho-hum. I think your reading time would be better spent on something more meaty.Oh, and if you want to see political lying in practice, look no further than the U.S. State Department press briefings starring Victoria Nuland, where the art of avoiding straight answers is continually on display. less

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