Changing the Conversation in Washington? An Illustrative Case Study of President Trump’s Air Strikes on Syria, 2017

Abstract

This analysis uses case study methodology to further the understanding of the diversionary theory of war in specific cases. It employs a model consisting of five propositions that build upon existing qualitative research on diversionary war theory. The synthesised framework examines one possible case of American diversionary military actions: President Donald Trump´s decision to launch missile strikes against Syrian airfields on 7 April 2017. The study tests the descriptive accuracy and further develops the diversionary theory of war, in essence, generally suggesting that empirical support for the diversionary logic in this case is mixed.