Why Nations Fight: Past and Future Motives for War
by Richard Ned Lebow
2020-12-31 21:10:06
Why Nations Fight: Past and Future Motives for War
by Richard Ned Lebow
2020-12-31 21:10:06
Four generic motives have historically led states to initiate war: fear, interest, standing and revenge. Using an original dataset, Richard Ned Lebow examines the distribution of wars across three and a half centuries and argues that, contrary to...
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Four generic motives have historically led states to initiate war: fear, interest, standing and revenge. Using an original dataset, Richard Ned Lebow examines the distribution of wars across three and a half centuries and argues that, contrary to conventional wisdom, only a minority of these were motivated by security or material interest. Instead, the majority are the result of a quest for standing, and for revenge – an attempt to get even with states who had previously made successful territorial grabs. Lebow maintains that today none of these motives are effectively served by war – it is increasingly counterproductive – and that there is growing recognition of this political reality. His analysis allows for more fine-grained and persuasive forecasts about the future of war as well as highlighting areas of uncertainty.
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