AP Photo
Summer 2011
"Chronic Misperception and International Conflict: The U.S.-Iraq Experience"
Journal Article, International Security, issue 1, volume 36
By Charles A. Duelfer and Stephen Benedict Dyson
The conflict between the United States and Iraq was aggravated in part by mutual misunderstandings that compounded over time. The examples of misperceptions between the two states are myriad, but they largely resulted in Saddam Hussein not recognizing the United States as a serious threat and the George W. Bush administration therefore seeing him as an enemy while he viewed his actions as justified. It is difficult to know how better communication could have ameliorated the conflict, but regardless, awareness of the detriments of misconceptions as well as systematic training in human perception could help to prevent costly and unnecessary misadventures in the future.
