Why nations fight : past and future motives for war / Richard Ned Lebow.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lebow, Richard Ned, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

War--Causes.

War.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 295 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Four generic motives have historically led states to initiate war: fear, interest, standing, and revenge. Using an original data set, 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.

Contents:

Theories of war

Theory and propositions

Data set and findings

Interest and security

Standing and revenge.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

ISBN:

1-107-20443-7

0-511-84921-4

1-282-81869-4

9786612818691

0-511-76148-1

0-511-91750-3

0-511-91652-3

0-511-91848-8

0-511-91471-7

0-511-91291-9

OCLC:

670411500