This text examines the role played by the mass media and public opinion in the development of United States foreign policy in the Gulf War. Tracing the flow of news, public opinion and policy decisions from Saddham Hussein's rise to power in 1979, to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, through the outbreak and conclusion of the war, the contributors look at how the media have become key players in the foreign policy process. They examine the prewar media debate, news coverage during and after the war, how the news-gathering process shaped the content of the coverage and the media's effect on public opinion and decision-makers. "Taken by Storm" also examines more general patterns in post-Cold War journalism and foreign policy, particularly how contemporary journalistic practices determine whose voices and what views are heard in foreign policy coverage.