| Publication |
2011.
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| Summary/Abstract |
The Madman theory remains a reliable conversation stopper in current strategic debates. Saddam Hussein had to be destroyed because deterrence was deemed unworkable against a tyrant presumed to be irrational. The same argument is now used regarding Iran's clerical regime, often with the added claim that national suicide is an insufficient disincentive for rulers obsessed by eschatological ends. In all such arguments, the temptation to play the Hitler analogy is rarely resisted. The comparison is usually fanciful, but if it is going to be used, we should at least get Hitler right. This is among several important things that Ian Kershaw does in his admirable book.
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