From the Gulf War to Kosovo, the last decade has seen a new found willingness by Western governments to use force to intervene in "distant" humanitarian crises. Central to this new policy is the so-called "CNN effect", the saturation of western viewers with non-stop, real-time news footage from civil wars, which constitute a powerful plea for action. But is the media genuinely influential in shaping foreign policy, or are governments oblivious to partial news coverage.

The CNN Effect examines the relationship between the state and its media, and considers the role played by the CNN effect in a series of "humanitarian" interventions in Iraq, Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo and Rwanda. Piers Robinson challenges traditional views of media subservience and argues that sympathetic news coverage at key moments in foreign crises can influence the response of western governments.