The main theory discussed in this article will be the CNN Effect. This theory, which was argued quite interestingly by Piers Robinson in his book The CNN Effect: the Myth of News, Foreign Policy and Intervention (2002), asserts that compelling and sometimes even gruesome television images, particularly those dealing with humanitarian crises, increase the decision of American policymakers to intervene in a crisis when that particular event would normally be of no interest to the United States. This theory aims to describe the immense power that the media has over the government. It was during World War II that the media first became such an important part of the war efforts. It became extremely easy for the war to be broadcast by major television companies throughout most of the world. The many wars that followed World War II (the Cold War, Vietnam, the Gulf War, and other conflicts) were broadcast with even greater ease by major news companies such as NBC, BBC, and CNN . These networks became and still are today among the most powerful disseminators of war activities (Gilboa, 2005). As these major conflicts and wars ensued, many senior politicians quickly began to recognize how their policies were being affected by the media, even if in a corrective way. Although there are many other ways in which policymakers are affected, this particular article will take a narrower view of the CNN effect and focus solely on the media aspect of the theory. As Robinson says in his book The CNN Effect: The Myth of News, Foreign Policy and Intervention: “The focus is on one variable, the media, which is widely recognized as playing an important role in influencing interventions. by the United States. ... middle of paper ...... international relations. Political Communication, 22, 27-44.2. Gowing, N. (1994). Real-time television coverage of armed conflicts and diplomatic crises: Does it exert pressure or distort foreign policy decisions. President and Fellows of Harvard College.3. Jakobsen, P. V. (2000). The focus on the CNN effect misses the point: the true impact of media on conflict management is invisible and indirect. Journal of Peace Research, 27(2), 131-143.4. Robinson, P. (1999). The CNN Effect: Can the News Media Drive Foreign Policy? Review of International Studies, 25, 301-309.5. Robinson, P. (2002). The CNN effect: the myth of information, foreign policy and intervention. London: Routledge.6. Kogen, Lauren and Monroe E Price. 2011. “Hijacking the CNN Effect: Public Opinion Polls and Livingstonian Results.” » Media, wars and conflicts 4, no. 2:109-123. Communication and mass media completed