Kahneman on Why Hawks Win
Anything written by psychologist Daniel Kahneman is usually worth reading, and his essay in the current issue of the journal Foreign Policy is no exception:Modern psychology suggests that policymakers come to the debate predisposed to believe their hawkish advisors more than the doves. There are numerous reasons for the burden of persuasion that doves carry, and some of them have nothing to do with politics or strategy. In fact, a bias in favor of hawkish beliefs and preferences is built into the fabric of the human mind.1
