When is it better to bluster and when is it better to back down? How are decisions made that ultimately lead to war or peace? Who are best situated to know the "ground truth" and how to manage emerging crises? How might unintended consequences be minimized or mitigated? Controversy over the decision-making process that led to U.S. involvement in Iraq has created renewed interest in who knew what, when, where, and how.

Senior Fellow and Washington Post journalist Michael Dobbs has just completed a book manuscript on the Cuban Missile Crisis, One Minute to Midnight, to be published by Knopf. In his project report, Dobbs will draw lessons from his research on the missile crisis for current conflict management styles related to the war on terror. Mr. Dobbs has been a national reporter for the Washington Post for fourteen years, and served as Moscow Bureau Chief from 1988-1993, Paris Bureau Chief from 1982-1986, Eastern Europe Bureau Chief from 1980-1982, and as a freelance journalist in Africa and Eastern Europe from 1976-1980.

Speakers

• Michael Dobbs
  Senior Fellow, U.S. Institute of Peace
• Ginny Bouvier, Moderator
  U.S. Institute of Peace

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