The book aims at gauging whether the nature of US foreign policy decision-making has changed - after the Cold War - as radically as a large body of literature seems to suggest. It aims at evaluating the assessment that the Cold War world represented a certain, clear and secure world that had nothing to do with the uncertain, unpredictable and ri 'This path breaking study identifies the President as the ultimate manager always having to balance between the demands of the American people and the requirements of remaining a great power. Theauthor makes more than a significant contribution to the field: he breaks new ground. An excellent volume' - Professor Michael Cox Director. IDEAS, LSE 'Do U.S. Presidents assess risk differently today than they did during the Cold War? Luca Trenta has written an engaging book exploring how American Presidents use the concepts of "risk" and "risk management" in their decision-making. He deftly compares crises during and after the Cold War to convincingly demonstrate a significant consistency between how U.S. leaders craft policy in the two eras. Using insights from broader international relations theory-especially sociological theories, Trenta reframes the traditional literature on foreign policy analysis to give us a broader understanding of how leaders cope with risk. A conceptually impressive account, this book will interest scholars of international politics, but also students of decision-making under uncertainty.' - Jasen J. Castillo, Associate Professor, Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University 'For those interested in studying US foreign policy through the lens of 'risk', this is an indispensable book. Trenta's command of both the conceptual literature and his case studies is formidable.' -Adam Quinn, University of Birmingham, UK