This book examines the foreign policy decisions of individual US presidents-including Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump.

• Cover
• Realism and Idealism in Foreign Policy Decision Making
• Realism and Idealism in Foreign Policy Decision Making
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter 1
  • Realism, Idealism, and Belief Systems in Foreign Policy Decision-Making
    • Neorealism
    • Neoclassical Realism
    • Realism and Idealism as Ideology
    • Creating the Typology
    • Linking Image Theory to the OpCode Typology
    • Concluding Thoughts
    • Notes
• Chapter 2
  • Richard Nixon
    • Images in Nuclear Talks Public Statements—Nixon
    • Source of Conflict
    • Other Images
    • Operational Code
    • Middle East Conflict
    • OpCode—Middle East
    • Nixon the Defensive Realist and Offensive Idealist
    • Notes
• Chapter 3
  • Jimmy Carter
    • Nuclear Negotiations—SALT II
    • Images in Nuclear Talks
    • Carter in the Middle East—Camp David
    • Camp David
    • Source of Conflict
    • Interpreting OpCode
    • Carter the Defensive Realist
    • Notes
• Chapter 4
  • George W. Bush
    • 9/11 and Afghanistan
    • Iraq
    • Operational Code Analysis
    • The Expansionist Idealist
• Chapter 5
  • Barack Obama
    • Afghanistan
    • Iraq
    • Operational Code
    • Defensive Realist or a New Type of Idealist?
• Chapter 6
  • Donald Trump
    • Images in Trump’s Idealism
    • Source of Conflict
    • Stability of Trump’s Beliefs and Worldviews
    • Assessing Perception and Worldview through Rhetoric
    • Trump’s OpCode: 2017 Analysis
    • Trump—Presidential Debates
    • Trump—Speeches
    • Time Period 1: Candidacy to Victory (June 16, 2015, to November 11, 2016)
    • Time Period 2: First Year (January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2017)
    • Time Period 3: Second and Third Years (January 1, 2018, to October 14, 2019)
    • Trump’s OpCode: Escalation with Iran
    • Conclusion
    • Notes
• Conclusion
  • The Offensive Idealist
  • The Isolationist Idealist
  • The Defensive Realist
  • The Offensive Realist
  • The Cold War, Post-Cold War, and Constraints
  • Using Image Theory with Operational Code
  • Limitations and Future Research
• Bibliography
• Index
• About the Author