Never at War / William I. Hitchcock, Paul Kennedy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Weart, Spencer R., 1942-

Contributor:

Hitchcock, William I., Editor.

Kennedy, Paul, Editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Democracy--History.

Democracy.

War--History.

War.

Peace--History.

Peace.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, [1998]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This lively survey of the history of conflict between democracies reveals a remarkable-and tremendously important-finding: fully democratic nations have never made war on other democracies. Furthermore, historian Spencer R. Weart concludes in this thought-provoking book, they probably never will. Building his argument on some forty case studies ranging through history from ancient Athens to Renaissance Italy to modern America, the author analyzes for the first time every instance in which democracies or regimes like democracies have confronted each other with military force. Weart establishes a consistent set of definitions of democracy and other key terms, then draws on an array of international sources to demonstrate the absence of war among states of a particular democratic type. His survey also reveals the new and unexpected finding of a still broader zone of peace among oligarchic republics, even though there are more of such minority-controlled governments than democracies in history. In addition, Weart discovers that peaceful leagues and confederations-the converse of war-endure only when member states are democracies or oligarchies. With the help of related findings in political science, anthropology, and social psychology, the author explores how the political culture of democratic leaders prevents them from warring against others who are recognized as fellow democrats and how certain beliefs and behaviors lead to peace or war. Weart identifies danger points for democracies, and he offers crucial, practical information to help safeguard peace in the future.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

CHAPTER ONE. Investigating the Puzzle of Democratic Peace

CHAPTER TWO. Ancient Greece: Definitions and a Pattern of Peace

CHAPTER THREE. Medieval Italy: Wars Without States

CHAPTER FOUR. The Rise of Republican States, Ideals, and Alliances

CHAPTER FIVE. The Political Culture of Peace

CHAPTER SIX. The Swiss Republics: Defining an Enemy

CHAPTER SEVEN. Oligarchy, Intervention, and Civil War

CHAPTER EIGHT. Republics Versus Autocracies

CHAPTER NINE. Well-Established Republics Versus Authoritarian Regimes

CHAPTER TEN. Well-Established Republics Versus Newborn Republics

CHAPTER ELEVEN. Authoritarian Diplomacy

CHAPTER TWELVE. Republican Diplomacy

CHAPTER THIRTEEN. Imperialist Aggression by Democracies

CHAPTER FOURTEEN. Leagues of Republics

CHAPTER FIFTEEN. Crusading for Democracy

APPENDIX. Military Confrontations Between Approximately Republican Regimes of the Same Kind

Notes

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9780300147742

0300147740

OCLC:

1024045097