ABSTRACT
This is a book about managing foreign and security policy in cases of protracted decision making. More specifically, the contributors address the difficult – but common – situation in which a government commits to a major course of international action only to discover later that it is not working as planned. In the face of feedback that a major policy is failing, do policy makers stay the course or change direction? Everyone recognizes that the overwhelming tendency is to remain steadfast. Mythology often celebrates those who persevere with the belief that it is “darkest just before the dawn” and praise those resolute actors who refuse “to change horses in midstream.” Such stalwarts are celebrated as prevailing against the odds like a heroic Horatio Alger.
