Invincible Ignorance in American Foreign Policy

Robert P. Newman completed a BA at the University of Redlands, was a MacLeish Scholar at the University of Chicago's Divinity School, earned both bachelor's and master's degrees in politics, philosophy and economics at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and was granted a PhD from the University of Connecticut. He spent most of his career at the University of Pittsburgh. His eight books on debate and evidence, recognition of Communist China, Cold War controversies over government figures, Truman and the Hiroshima cult, the Enola Gay controversy, and now American foreign policy since World War II earned scholarly awards from the National Communication Association and Gustav Myers Center as well as Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and Los Angeles Times Book Prize nominations.
David Deifell (PhD, The University of Iowa) is an Associate Professor at Ashford University, Clinton, Iowa. Deifell has taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Puget Sound, Drake University, Appalachian State University, Lees-McRae College, and East Tennessee State University and has worked actively with Amnesty International and Students Against Sweatshops. His dissertation was on educational discourses and student movement rhetoric. Deifell's scholarship can be found in Communication Teacher and South Atlantic Philosophy of Education Yearbook. His current projects involve political communication, critical/cultural studies, historiography, communication pedagogy, and rhetorical criticism.

«For more than six decades, Robert P. Newman has been the foremost scholar of U.S. foreign policy discourse. Newman's penetrating and insightful critiques of the speeches and media articles that influence public opinion have shaped scholarly dialogues for generations of academics in communication studies, political science, and international relations. The book deserves a significant audience and will be cited for years to come.» (Thomas A. Hollihan, Professor, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California)
«This book represents the culmination of a career devoted to the critical study of the public arguments and ideological commitments that have shaped American foreign policy since the end of World War II. For more than six decades, Robert P. Newman has been the foremost scholar of U.S. foreign policy discourse. Newman's penetrating and insightful critiques of the speeches and media articles that influence public opinion have shaped scholarly dialogues for generations of academics in communication studies, political science, and international relations. 'Invincible Ignorance' includes chapters on the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Iran, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Newman is often sharply critical of U.S. foreign policy and laments that our often uninformed citizens have been so frequently misled by the profiteers of protracted conflicts. Yet this is a book written by a true patriot devoted to improving foreign policy by enhancing the quality of public debate in the U.S. The book deserves a significant audience and will be cited for years to come.» (Thomas A. Hollihan, Professor, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California)
«'Invincible Ignorance in American Foreign Policy' unveils recurrent, ideologically driven, foreign policy decision-making and its dire short- and long-term consequences for the United States. Beginning with World War II and ending with the 2003