What Do We Know About War?

by Vasquez, John A.; Brecher, Michael (CON); Bremer, Stuart A. (CON); Diehl, Paul F. (CON); Geller, Daniel S. (CON)

• ISBN13: 9780847699278
• ISBN10: 0847699277
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-10-01
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Pub Inc

Summary

What Do We Know About War? reviews the causes of war and the conditions of peace. Drawing analyses from the thirty-five year history of this discipline, leading researchers explore the roles played by alliances, territory, arms races, interstate rivalries, capability, and crisis bargaining in increasing the probability of war. They emphasize international norms and the recent finding that democratic states do not fight each other as factors that promote peace.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction	xiii
John A. Vasquez
Part I: Overview
The Etiology of Interstate War: A Natural History Approach	3	(20)
J. David Singer
Who Fights Whom, When, Where, and Why?	23	(14)
Stuart A. Bremer
Escalation and War in the Twentieth Century: Findings from the International Crisis Behavior Project	37	(20)
Michael Brecher
Patrick James
Jonathan Wilkenfeld
Part II: Factors That Bring about War
Territory: Theory and Evidence on Geography and Conflict	57	(28)
Paul R. Hensel
Territory: Why Are Territorial Disputes between States a Central Cause of International Conflict?	85	(26)
Paul K. Huth
Alliances: The Street Gangs of World Politics---Their Origins, Management, and Consequences, 1816--1986	111	(34)
Zeev Maoz
Alliances: Why Some Cause War and Why Others Cause Peace	145	(20)
Douglas M. Gibler
Military Buildups: Arming and War	165	(32)
Susan G. Sample
Rivalries: The Conflict Process	197	(22)
Gary Goertz
Paul F. Diehl
Rivalries: Recurrent Disputes and Explaining War	219	(16)
Frank Whelon Wayman
Escalation: Crisis Behavior and War	235	(24)
Russell J. Leng
Material Capabilities: Power and International Conflict	259	(22)
Daniel S. Geller
Part III: Factors That Promote Peace
International Norms: Normative Orders and Peace	281	(18)
Gregory A. Raymond
Democracy: On the Level(s), Does Democracy Correlate with Peace?	299	(20)
James Lee Ray
Part IV: Lessons and Conclusions
Reflections on the Scientific Study of War	319	(10)
Jack S. Levy
Mature Theories, Second-Order Properties, and Other Matters	329	(6)
Manus I. Midlarsky
What Do We Know about War?	335	(36)
John A. Vasquez
References	371	(36)
Subject Index	407	(4)
Name Index	411	(8)
About the Contributors	419