About this title: One of the most influental political science works written in the post World War II era, the original edition of Essence of Decision is a unique and fascinating examination of the pivotal event of the cold Cold War. Not simply revised, but completely re-written, the Second Edition of this classic text is a fresh reinterpretation of the theories and events surrounding the Cuban Missle Crisis, incorporating all new information from the Kennedy tapes and recently declassified Soviet files. Essence of Decision Second Edition, is a vivid look at decision-making under pressure and is the only ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Longman
Date Published: 1971
ISBN-13:9780673394125ISBN:0673394123
Description: Good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Little, Brown, Boston
Date Published: 1971
Description: Good. xii, 338 p. 21 cm. "Written under the auspices of the Faculty Seminar on Bureaucracy, Politics, and Policy of the Institute of Politics, John Fitzgerald Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. " read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Little Brown & Co (T)
Date Published: 1972
ISBN-13:9780673394125ISBN:0673394123
Description: Very Good. Minor cover wear and tear with pages appearing to be FREE of markings. GoodwillnyBooks is committed to providing each customer with the highest standard of customer service. You may return new items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Acceptable. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Little Brown & Co (T)
Date Published: 1972
ISBN-13:9780673394125ISBN:0673394123
Description: Good. Cover has minor wear or damage Moderate highlighting in pink and yellow General Used Condiiton. Minor Defects may Exist. Minimal Shelf wear. Text may contain minor marking or highlighting, Binding Tight. Previous owners name or bookplate may be present. Customer Service isn't just a motto for us, its a way of life. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Little Brown & Co (T)
Date Published: 1972
ISBN-13:9780673394125ISBN:0673394123
Description: Good. Used Condition-GOOD can be a well cared for Book that is in great condition to a Book that may show some signs of wear. GOOD Books sometimes are permanently marked; have some spine or page creases; exibit signs of aging or an ExLibrary copy. ** Sometimes grease pencil or permanent marking on cover. May contain limited notes and or highlighting. 100% Satisfaction guaranteed on all purchases. ** SHIPS FROM USA-Domestic Delivery takes 5-14 days ** read more
Description: Good. 0673394123 Good Condition-1971 copyright-HarperCollins Publishers-cover has wear and some fading including small nick along spine-stamped on first page-pages are clean and free of markings (History-13) read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Little, Brown, Boston
Date Published: 1971
Description: Near Very Good. No Jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. xii, 338 pp. Tenth printing. The front cover is creased at the upper and lower fore-corners; underlining on first 7 pages. The binding is tight and square. read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Little Brown, Boston MA
Date Published: 1971
Description: Very Good Minus. No Dust Jacket. 8 1/4. Paperback. Some hi-lighting noted. NOT CURRENT EDITION. 17th printing; some edgewear. couple of faint bend line on the spine but it is still mostly tight (The Sixties-green/white letters) "Essence of Decision is both a vivid account of a crucial international event and a breakthrough in the application of organizational and political theory to events. Professor Allison analyzes the Cuban missile crisis in terms of three alternative frames of reference. By ... read more
Edition: 2nd Rev ed.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Longman Publishing Group
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9780321013491ISBN:0321013492
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Highlighting/underlining. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 416 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Trade pb
Publisher: Little, Brown, Boston
Date Published: [1971]
Description: Very Good. No dust jacket, as issued. Stated 15th printing. Soft cover shows some wear along edges. Book is in good condition. Later printing. xii, 338 p. 21 cm. "Written under the auspices of the Faculty Seminar on Bureaucracy, Politics, and Policy of the Institute of Politics, John Fitzgerald Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. " Includes bibliographical references. read more
"This book illustrates how decisions can be analyzed retrospectively, including a taste of how different theories of decision making will change what one concludes about what the actors involved must have believed and wanted.
When I went back to college after leaving my first career, my fascination with this book was one of the principle reasons I choose International Relations as my subject matter. In retrospect, I should have tracked down a program in Decision Theory instead, but hindsight is 20-20."
"In this update of the Ernest May original, Graham Allison and Philip Zelikow's Essence of Decision offers three different models through which to interpret the Cuban Missile Crisis. The first model, the Rational Actor Model (or RAM), provides a paradigm that describes rational actors' methods to maximize political and diplomatic utility. The second model, the Organizational Behavior Model, accounts for the influence of organizations and institutions on decision making processes. The third and final model, which focuses on governmental politics, examines how separated institutions share power and the effects of group processes on decision making. Each of the book's three sections begins by explaining a particular model and then finishes by applying that model to the events of October 1962. The result is a thought provoking but inconclusive look at the most dangerous thirteen days of the atomic era. Allison and Zelikow never take a firm stance on the correct method of analysis for the crisis. The end result is a book meant to inform and advise policymakers on how to read this historic event that never actually does so. What the book does make clear is the influence economic theory has had on IR theory and policy decisions. For example, the first chapter's use of the Rational Actor Model is clearly based on the homo economus givens used in nearly all economic models. The connections that Allison and Zelikow fail to make, however, provide a more interesting analysis than the book's contents. Put simply, the authors never explicitly recognize how their models are based in a western economic tradition. These models rely heavily on the maximization of utility and the minimization of threat or danger. The minimax theorem, as first formulated in 1944 by John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern, seems to have influenced all policy decisions of the Cold War. Keynesian economics of government intervention, combined with Chandler's insights into the rise of the managerial class, combine with game theory to provide an almost fatal mistake of nuclear proportion. Von Neumann and General Curtis LeMay both endorsed a first strike against the Soviet Union at early points in the Cold War based on such logic. The authors also never effectively show how both sides of a nuclear balance require equal information of the effects and repercussions resulting in a first or second strike. MAD establishes this balance. Put simply, they pronounce their biases of political and diplomatic theory by espousing models based in western economic logic. Yet these models are applied to a situation in which the other side, the USSR, based its political ideology in opposition to such western based economic theories. Why is this divide never examined? How stable was the balance between the nuclear superpowers if each side based their diplomacy on completely different ideologies? In all fairness, these critiques do not address the book on its own merits. Yet these comments reveal an unforeseen argument inherent in Essence of Decision: It is a work that offers no conclusive advice on how to approach policymaking, yet Allison and Zelikow have utilized modernity-based models and economics to endorse a sort of post-modern inconclusiveness. If nothing else, the book shows just how lucky the superpowers were in escaping nuclear war in October of 1962."
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