Iran’s Nuclear Challenge
COLIN DUECK and RAY TAKEYH describe the political, ideological and security motivations behind Iran’s nuclear program and examine various strategic alternatives available to the United States. They conclude that the United States should pursue comprehensive, direct negotiations with Tehran on the nuclear issue, within an overarching framework of containment.

The Lessons of September 11, Iraq, and the American Pendulum
Christopher Hemmer examines the impact of September 11 on the Bush administration’s decision to invade Iraq. He also explores the potential dangers for American foreign policy that could result from an over-active interventionist policy.

Of Paradise, Power, and Pachyderms
MIROSLAV NINCIC and MONTI NARAYAN DATTA challenge the conventional wisdom that the political values of the United States and Europe are increasingly diverging. They argue that the divergence does not so much separate Europeans from Americans as it does U.S. Republicans from the rest of the political West.

Presidential Republics and Divided Government: Lawmaking and Executive Politics in the United States and France
Richard S. Conley compares the impact of institutional prerogatives and informal resources available to American and French presidents in their quest to manage legislative outcomes under split-party control of national institutions in each country.

The Structural Causes of Trusting Relationships: Why Rivals Do Not Overcome Suspicion Step by Step
Aaron M. Hoffman explores how certain European states overcame their suspicion and developed trusting relationships. He challenges the view that trusting relationships can be established gradually. Instead, he argues that trusting relationships emerge when governments guarantee one another a voice in collective decisions and limit each other’s exposure to domestic political pressures.

Soldier: The Life of Colin Powell, Karen DeYoung
Reviewed by Fred I. Greenstein

Why Leaders Choose War: The Psychology of Prevention, Jonathan Renshon
Reviewed by Yael S. Aronoff

Before the Next Attack: Preserving Civil Liberties in an Age of Terrorism, Bruce Ackerman
Reviewed by Mark Tushnet

Is Iraq Another Vietnam?, Robert K. Brigham
Reviewed by Ann Marie Murphy

Conned: How Willions Went to Prison, Lost the Vote, and Helped Send George W. Bush to the White House, Sasha Abramsky ; The Disenfranchisement of Ex-Felons, Elizabeth A. Hull
Reviewed by Alec Ewald

In the Name of National Security: Unchecked Presidential Power and the Reynolds Case, Louis Fisher
Reviewed by Adrian Vermeule

The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track, Norman J. Ornstein and Thomas E. Mann
Reviewed by Sean M. Theriault

Whistling Past Dixie: How Democrats Can Win Without the South, Thomas F. Schaller
Reviewed by Patrick R. Cotter

Addressing the State of the Union: The Evolution and Impact of the President’s Big Speech, Donna R. Hoffman and Alison D. Howard
Reviewed by Mary E. Stuckey

Electoral Politics is Not Enough: Racial and Ethnic Minorities and Urban Politics, Peter F. Burns
Reviewed by David Tabb

Gay Marriage: For Better or for Worse? What We’ve Learned from the Evidence, William N. Eskridge and Darren R. Spedale
Reviewed by Raymond A. Smith

How Voters Decide: Information Processing During Election Campaigns, Richard R. Lau and David Redlawsk
Reviewed by John Gastil

The Constitution as Social Design: Gender and Civic Membership in the American Constitutional Order, Gretchen Ritter
Reviewed by Elisabeth S. Clemens

The Least Examined Branch: The Role of Legislatures in the Constitutional State, Richard W. Bauman and Tsvi Kahana, eds.
Reviewed by Richard Briffault

The Prison and the Gallows: The Politics of Mass Incarceration in America, Marie Gottschalk
Reviewed by Charles Williams

Disarmed: The Missing Movement for Gun Control in America, Kristin A. Goss
Reviewed by Harry L. Wilson

The War Council: McGeorge Bundy, the NSC, and Vietnam, Andrew Preston
Reviewed by John Garofano

A Troubled Peace: U.S. Policy and the Two Koreas, Chae-Jin Lee
Reviewed by Tae Yang Kwak

A Theory of Foreign Policy, T. Clifton Morgan and Glenn Palmer
Reviewed by John Conybeare

Diplomacy and War at NATO: The Secretary General and Military Action After the Cold War, Ryan C. Hendrickson
Reviewed by James Goldgeier

Complexity in World Politics: Concepts and Methods of a New Paradigm, Neil E. Harrison, ed.
Reviewed by Barry B. Hughes

Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency in Iraq, Ahmed S. Hashim
Reviewed by Navin A. Bapat

Intimate Ties, Bitter Struggles: The United States and Latin America Since 1945, Alan L. McPherson
Reviewed by Gaspare M. Genna

Deliberative Environmental Politics: Democracy and Ecological Rationality, Walter F. Baber and Robert V. Bartlett
Reviewed by Simone Chambers

Democracy and Elections in Africa, Staffan I. Lindberg
Reviewed by Jeffrey Krutz

Globalization, Politics, and Financial Turmoil: Asia’s Banking Crisis, Shanker Satyanath
Reviewed by Anastasia Xenias

It Was Like a Fever: Storytelling in Protest and Politics, Francesca Polletta
Reviewed by Wendy Griswold

Telling the Truths: Truth Telling and Peace Building in Post-Conflict Societies, Tristan Anne Borer, ed.
Reviewed by David Mendeloff

The Evolution of the Trade Regime: Politics, Law, and Economics of the GATT and the WTO, John H. Barton, Judith L. Goldstein, Timothy E. Josling and Richard H. Steinberg
Reviewed by Christina Davis

Troublemakers or Peacemakers? Youth and Post-Accord Peace Building, Siobhan McEvoy-Levy, ed.
Reviewed by Henry F. Carey