Dan Reiter responds to John Schuessler's Spring 2010 International Security article, "The Deception Dividend: FDR's Undeclared War."

Sean Lynn-Jones interviews John Schuessler on his article. John Schuessler is Assistant Professor of Strategy and International Security in the Department of Leadership and Strategy at the Air War College.

Sean Lynn-Jones interviews John Schuessler on his article. John Schuessler is Assistant Professor of Strategy and International Security in the Department of Leadership and Strategy at the Air War College.

Although leaders are more likely to initiate wars they believe they can win, sometimes they enter conflicts where an easy victory is anything but assured. In such cases, leaders use deception to preempt domestic opposition by shifting blame onto the adversary. The United States' entry into World War II illustrates this argument: by 1941 Franklin Roosevelt welcomed U.S. entry into the war and manufactured events accordingly to avoid opposition that might have prevented the United States from entering the war. In some cases, then, deception may be in the national interest.