Why Leaders Lie: The Truth About Lying in International Politics 1st Edition

by John J. Mearsheimer (Author)

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ISBN-13: 978-0199975457

ISBN-10: 0199975450

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For more than two decades, John J. Mearsheimer has been regarded as one of the foremost realist thinkers on foreign policy. Clear and incisive, a fearlessly honest analyst, his coauthored 2007 New York Times bestseller, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, aroused a firestorm with its
unflinching look at the making of America's Middle East policy. Now he takes a look at another controversial but understudied aspect of international relations: lying.

In Why Leaders Lie, Mearsheimer provides the first systematic analysis of lying as a tool of statecraft, identifying the varieties, the reasons, and the potential costs and benefits. Drawing on a trove of examples, he argues that leaders often lie for good strategic reasons, so a blanket
condemnation is unrealistic and unwise. Yet there are other kinds of deception besides lying, including concealment and spinning. Perhaps no distinction is more important than that between lying to another state and lying to one's own people. Mearsheimer was amazed to discover how unusual interstate
lying has been; given the atmosphere of distrust among the great powers, he found that outright deceit is difficult to pull off and thus rarely worth the effort. Plus it sometimes backfires when it does occur. Khrushchev lied about the size of the Soviet missile force, sparking an American build-up.
Eisenhower got caught lying about U-2 spy flights in 1960, which scuttled an upcoming summit with Krushchev. Leaders more often mislead their own publics, sometimes with damaging consequences. Though the reasons may be noble--Franklin Roosevelt, for example, lied to the American people about German
U-boats attacking the destroyer Greer in 1940, to build a case for war against Hitler-they can easily lead to disaster, as with the Bush administration's falsehoods about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

There has never been a sharp analysis of international lying. Now a leading expert fills the gap with a richly informed and powerfully argued book.

Review

Acclaim for Why Leaders Lie:

"Entertaining and well-written...this is a short and punchy book with a lot of lists and observations.... On its own terms, this book is an attempt to start a conversation about how lying operates in international politics. In that respect, it succeeds admirably, and contains a number of important
avenues for future research."
--International Affairs

"Mearsheimer is one of the most prominent, productive and imaginative scholars in the realist school of international relations. In this brief, highly instructive volume he discusses how and why leaders have used deception, dissembling and outright lying in pursuit of foreign policy goals."
--The RUSI Journal

"Myth-makers beware! Writing with verve and economy, John Mearsheimer breaks new ground in exposing this hot-button issue to systematic scrutiny."
--Jack Snyder, Professor of International Relations, Columbia University

"Is lying in international politics a shameful behavior or a useful tool of statecraft? When is it good for leaders to lie to their own people? Is there too much--or too little--lying in international politics? John Mearsheimer answers these and other similarly explosive questions with the boldness
and originality for which he is so well known. This is an insightful essay by one of the world's most provocative thinkers. A fascinating read."
--Moisés Naím, Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and former Editor-in-Chief, Foreign Policy

"This path-breaking study of lying in international politics is full of surprises. World leaders can lie to each other without suffering grave consequences, but they do it far less often than we might suppose. However, when leaders lie to their own publics about foreign policy conduct, significant
damage can result--particularly in democracies. John Mearsheimer categorizes the various types of lies and weighs the risks of undertaking them in this insightful analysis that is so relevant to our times."
--James F. Hoge, Jr., Chairman, Human Rights Watch, and former Editor, Foreign Affairs

"In this fascinating little book, John J. Mearsheimer argues that lying about foreign policy is an intrinsic part of the democratic way of life. This is an important message for those members of democratic publics who wish to avoid being bamboozled by their leaders."
--Robert O. Keohane, Professor of Public and International Affairs, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University

About the Author

John J. Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science and the co-director of the Program on International Security Policy at the University of Chicago. His books include The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, which won the Joseph Lepgold Book Prize, and
New York Times bestseller The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, which has been translated into twenty-one languages.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (March 1, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0199975450
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0199975457
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.9 x 0.4 x 6.1 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #38,324 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #7 in International Relations (Books)
- #11 in Political Leadership
- #56 in International Diplomacy (Books)

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John J. Mearsheimer

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John J. Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, where he has taught since 1982. He graduated from West Point in 1970 and then served five years as an officer in the U.S. Air Force. He then started graduate school in political science at Cornell University in 1975. He received his Ph.D. in 1980. He spent the 1979-1980 academic year as a research fellow at the Brookings Institution, and was a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University's Center for International Affairs from 1980 to 1982. During the 1998-1999 academic year, he was the Whitney H. Shepardson Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

Professor Mearsheimer has written extensively about security issues and international politics more generally. He has published six books: Conventional Deterrence (1983), which won the Edgar S. Furniss, Jr., Book Award; Liddell Hart and the Weight of History (1988); The Tragedy of Great Power Politics (2001, 2014), which won the Joseph Lepgold Book Prize and has been translated into eight different languages; The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy (with Stephen M. Walt, 2007), which made the New York Times best seller list and has been translated into twenty-four different languages; Why Leaders Lie: The Truth about Lying in International Politics (2011), which has been translated into twelve different languages; and The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities (2018).

He has also written many articles that have appeared in academic journals like International Security, and popular magazines like Foreign Affairs and the London Review of Books. Furthermore he has written a number of op-ed pieces for the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times dealing with topics like Bosnia, nuclear proliferation, American policy towards India, the failure of Arab-Israeli peace efforts, the folly of invading Iraq, and the causes of the Ukrainian crisis.

Finally, Professor Mearsheimer has won a number of teaching awards. He received the Clark Award for Distinguished Teaching when he was a graduate student at Cornell in 1977, and he won the Quantrell Award for Distinguished Teaching at the University of Chicago in 1985. In addition, he was selected as a Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar for the 1993-1994 academic year. In that capacity, he gave a series of talks at eight colleges and universities. In 2003, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

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Jessica Mitchell

decent

Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2018

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very basic and brought nothing new to the table, but a good reference book nevertheless

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fjness

Executive Summary of US Official Lies.

Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2014

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Mearsheimer takes a cursory look at lying in international politics. He provides examples of lies and then develops categories to describe the types of lies told by leaders. I think he wrote the book to catch the attention of the American public following the 2003 invasion of Iraq and does a good job of explaining that lying should be expected when leaders want war. The book would have made a great foreign affairs article, but a more in depth study would have improved the strength of his thesis.

4 people found this helpful

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William A. Harris, Jr.

Why Leaders Lie

Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2013

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As a public relations professional it really hepls one understand the spin that politicians and those trying to manipulate public opinion use the techniques described in the book.

3 people found this helpful

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NYRICH

A MUST READ FOR ALL CITIZENS

Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2011

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This book shoud be read by all persons concerned about the quality of all elected officials and policy influencing government employees.It should be part of any college history course

2 people found this helpful

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The Cornerstone of Politics - ?

Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2012

We have domestic lying lying between states, strategic cover-ups, fear-mongering and nationalist myths (eg. American exceptionalism, 'Its morning in America') What ever happened to the goal of fact-based decision-making?

FDR lied about German attacks on U.S. ships prior to our involvement in WWII, and hid Stalin's tyranny - lest political opponents prevent with with him to defeat Hitler. Mearsheimer calls these 'noble lies' that helped us defeat Hitler. Ergo, not all lies are bad.

Then JFK lied about what really went on in Turkey regarding missiles aimed at the Russians - instead, obviously preferring another lie, that the 'best and the brightest' had backed down the Russians.

Another instance - LBJ and the Gulf of Tonkin incident lie that smoothed the way for declaring war on Vietnam.

Then there's Bush II - lies and inferences about Iraq's involvement in 9/11, acquiring massive amounts of yellow-cake, the U.S. still considering alternatives - after it had decided to attack, and Iraq being near ready to deploy WMD. While Bush II is instead thought of as an incompetent liar, author Mearsheimer cautions us that we'd instead view him as a genius had there been no Iraq insurgency, and democracy now was blooming in the Middle East. (It's too early to judge the 'Arab Spring')

Mearsheimer also contends there's less lying between countries, because these lies are more likely to be found out. Yet, didn't Bush II also lie to the entire world about Iraq? And didn't Hussein lie about WMDs to keep Iran at bay, Kruschev encourage the erroneous perception of a missile gap?

And what about those who want to become leaders - their lies, half-truths, and statements of aspiration as fact dwarf anything imagined by Machiavelli.

Bottom-Line: Political/government lies are extremely dangerous. Surprisingly, the U.S., despite priding itself on openness and democracy, is one of the worst international liars.

6 people found this helpful

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D.Z. Hays

Lies

Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2011

John Mearsheimer's short new book is about lying in international politics. In this arena, political/national leaders can lie to other countries' political/national leaders or they can lie to their own constituents. Mearsheimer defines lying as "when a person makes a statement that he knows or suspects to be false in the hope that others will think it is true. A lie is a positive action designed to deceive the target audience". Lying is distinguished from concealment and spinning, where concealment is not a positive action to deceive anyone and where spinning is not about spreading information that a leader knows to be false. So, for example, President Johnson's account of the Gulf of Tonkin incident was a lie, as was President Eisenhower's lie(s) to the Soviets concerning the 1960 U2 incident.

More precisely, Mearsheimer identifies seven different types of international lies: inter-state lies; fearmongering, where leaders try to create support for policies that might be unpopular without lies (think of the Iraq war); strategic cover-ups, where a country tries to cover-up botched policies using lies for the purpose of national, not personal, interest; nationalist mythmaking; liberal lies, where a lie is used to counter accusations that an action is contrary to liberal norms such as international law; social imperialism, which "occurs when leaders tell lies about another country for the purposes of promoting either their own economic or political interests or those of a particular social class or interest group"; and ignoble cover-ups, "when leaders lie about their blunders or unsuccessful policies for self-serving reasons". The last two lies--social imperialism and ignoble cover-ups--are not discussed at length in the book because Mearsheimer is concerned with international lies-for-the-sake-of national interest, not lies for personal gain.

All in all, I suppose this book can help fill in the gaps of the international politics dilettant's bookshelf; but, to echo the sentiments of another Amazon review on this page, much of Mearsheimer's discussion is common sense. I did find it interesting, and contrary to common sense, however, that inter-state lying is relatively uncommon. Even so, this species of lying is not harshly punished by constituents, as they (the constituents) often understand that lies are sometimes necessary in the anarchic international arena. I did not, however, think that "nationalist mythmaking" merited a discussion in the book--at least the way Mearsheimer discussed it--since it was unclear to me how nationalism is a lie in the same sense that the other six lies are.

3 people found this helpful

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advokat

worth reading if you are interested in international politics

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 26, 2015

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A slim volume by the preeminent modern exponent of realist school. Mearsheimer is keen on categorization, but, once you go through it, his approach certainly clears a lot of deadwood from the subject. It is well written, and reads easily. The value for a general reader is realization that a that the strategic mendacity of great powers is a tool of politics, not necessarily a manifestation of innate moral depravity. You do not have to be taken in, though. I Mearsheimer writes neither out of academic vanity, nor to make an ideological point. He actually cares to arm the general reader with a tool to penetrate the political white noise and to enable him to understand international politics as professionals do. If you absorb the book, your perception of political news will never be the same.

One person found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Mearsheimer - once again

Reviewed in Germany on January 15, 2017

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Brilliant analysis
Yes I will recommend it, though it requires some ability of thinking.... .
Unfortunately not possible to find in Copenhagen.

David Tavadian

Easy to read and well researched

Reviewed in Canada on September 11, 2015

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Lots of interesting facts, very precise and objective. I learnt a lot from this book, especially that I should expect my leaders to lie.

黒羽夏彦

国際政治学における「ウソ」の効用

Reviewed in Japan on March 7, 2011

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　リアリストたる著者が着目するのは政治的ツールとしてのウソであって、そこからは倫理的な意味合いは排除され、ウソを使った結果として政治目標にプラスとなるか、マイナスとなるのかを判断基準として議論は進められる。対外交渉と国内政治との次元の相違に注目すると、一般に政治指導者が対外交渉におけるカウンターパートナーに対してウソをつくケースは意外と少ない一方、対外政策を進めるにあたっての必要から自国民に対してウソをつくケースが多いという指摘が本書の要点となる。

　本書で指摘される「政策の隠蔽」（covering up）にせよ、「恐怖の売り込み」（fearmongering）にせよ、将来的に必要な政策や安全保障上の危機に対して国民が無関心であるというギャップを目の当たりにした政治指導者が政策遂行の正当性を確信してついたウソである。これを必要悪として許容するか、愚民観だとして批判するか、判断は難しい。もちろん、ブッシュ政権のように指導者自身の認識が間違っていたこともあるし、こうした形でウソが露見した場合には政権基盤は崩壊する。いずれにせよ、民主主義国家における政策決定上のアポリアをウソという切り口から取り上げた議論として興味深い。

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Why Leaders Lie: The Truth About Lying in International Politics 1st Edition

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John J. Mearsheimer

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