Strategic Instincts: The Adaptive Advantages of Cognitive Biases in International Politics.

• Date: 01 December 2022
• Author: Antwi-Boasiako, Kwame Badu
• Published date: 01 December 2022
• Author: Antwi-Boasiako, Kwame Badu

Dominic D.P. Johnson, Strategic Instincts: The Adaptive Advantages of Cognitive Biases in International Politics, Princeton University Press, 2020. xii+392 pages. Hardcover, $29.95

The theory of rational choice presumes that leaders generally focus on building support through popular policies that distribute resources and rewards to their constituencies. The theme of the book deals with how our environment and experiences biasedly and mentally affect our decisions. The 392-page book blends historical and current world events to explaining the advantages and disadvantages of biases within individuals and nations. While each of the ten chapters of the book seemly stands alone by their titles, they are more connected as each chapter is built on the other.

The author, Dominic Johnson, uses case studies to elucidate our biasness in presenting events regarding international relations and why nations and individuals try to justify their actions even when "our intuitions" are supposed to "lead to good decisions, not bad ones," something the author refers to as "strategic instincts" (pp. 2-3). He maintains there is an iota of strategic biases inherent to human nature, which outperforms any rationality in decision-making. Such unconscious...