How do presidents and their advisors make war and peace decisions on military intervention  escalation  de-escalation  and termination of conflicts? Why do they often make sub-optimal decisions? Why do important policy goals  plans  and aspirations frequently result in inaction? The leading concept of group dynamics  Groupthink  offers one explanation—cohesive policy-making groups  such as advisors to the President  often make sub-optimal decisions due to their desire for uniformity over dissent  while ignoring important limitations of chosen policies  overestimating the odds for success and failing to consider other relevant policy options or possibilities