How Do Leaders Make Decisions?

Alex Mintz (PhD, Northwestern University) is Provost of IDC Herzliya. He served as Dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy at IDC from 2008-2014 and as Director of the Institute for Policy and Strategy (IPS)  from 2014-2017.  Professor Mintz held visiting professor appointments at Yale University and Columbia University, and other schools, as well as a chaired professorship at Texas A&M University.Dmitry (Dima) Adamsky is an Associate Professor at the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy at the IDC Herzliya, and is a Head of the BA Honors Track in Strategy and Decision Making. Prior to joining the school in 2010, he was a pre- and post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University, a visiting fellow at the Institute of War and Peace Studies, Columbia University, and at the Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies.

The studies here use Applied Decision Analysis as a systematic approach to understanding leadership characteristics of US presidents and other political leaders. They cover the decision calculus of Donald Trump, Barack Obama's foreign policy decision calculus, the decision calculus of Benjamin Netanyahu, the decision calculus of Winston Churchill, leaders' decision calculi on nuclear armament and disarmament, and the influence of military background in Israel leaders' national security decision making.

• Introduction. How Do Leaders Make Decisions? An Applied Decision Analysis Account; Alex Mintz and Eldad Tal-Shir Chapter 1. The Decision Calculus of Donald Trump; Tom Lourie Chapter 2. Barack Obama's Foreign Policy Decision Calculus; Ido Davidovich Chapter 3. The Decision Calculus of Benjamin Netanyahu; Noa Katzir Chapter 4. The Decision Calculus of Winston Churchill; Keren Lvovscky Chapter 5. Leaders' Decision Calculi on Nuclear Armament/Disarmament; Yael Frish Chapter 6. The Influence of Military Background on Israeli Leaders' National Security Decision-Making; Shahar Robinstain