Front cover image for What Causes War? : an Introduction to Theories of International Conflict

What Causes War? : an Introduction to Theories of International Conflict

Now in a thoroughly revised and updated edition, this classic text presents a comprehensive survey of the many alternative theories that attempt to explain the causes of interstate war. For each theory, Greg Cashman examines the arguments and counterarguments, considers the empirical evidence and counterevidence generated by social-science research, looks at historical applications of the theory, and discusses the theory's implications for restraining international violence. Cashman examines theories of war at the individual, substate, nation-state, dyadic, and international system
eBook, English, 2013
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Lanham, 2013
1 online resource (621 pages)
9780742566521, 9781299731387, 0742566528, 1299731384
852759309
Preface and Acknowledgments; 1 Empirical Theory and the Causes of War; Empirical Theory; Levels of Analysis; 2 The Individual Level of Analysis, Part I; Why Are Human Beings Aggressive? The Nature-Nurture Dispute; Nature: Early Ethology; Nature: Second-Wave Studies in Ethology and Primatology; Nurture: The Basics; Nurture: Cultural Evolution; Nurture: Peaceful Societies; Nurture: Social Learning Theory; Nurture: Three Experiments in Learning Peace and War; Conclusion; 3 The Individual Level of Analysis, Part II; Do Individuals Make a Difference? The Role of Reason: The Rational ModelThe Role of Personality: Psychological Theories; The Role of Emotion: The Cognitive Revolution; The Role of Bias: Heuristic Theories; The Role of Risk Bias: Prospect Theory; The Role of Images and Beliefs; The Role of Decision-Stage Psychology: The Rubicon Theory; The Role of Misperception; The Role of Stress; Conclusion; 4 The Substate Level of Analysis; The Role of Rationality in Small Groups: The Rational Actor Model; The Role of Rationality: Expected Utility Theory; Why Governments Don't Use the Rational Actor Model. The Role of Rationality: Bounded Rationality TheoryThe Role of Structure: The Organizational Process Model; The Role of Structure: The Bureaucratic Politics Model; The Role of Group Psychology: Groupthink; Group Concurrence Beyond Groupthink; Prescriptions for Better Small-Group Decision Making; Conclusion; 5 The State Level of Analysis, Part I; Liberalism: Some Basics; The Role of Regime Type (1): Democracy and the Monadic Peace; The Role of Regime Type (2): Democratization; The Role of Regime Type (3): Rogue States; The Role of the Business Cycle: Good Times and Bad Times. Does Size Matter? The Role of Power, Size, and DevelopmentThe Role of Population (1): Lebensraum; The Role of Population (2): Lateral Pressure; Conclusion; 6 The State Level of Analysis, Part II; The Role of Internal Conflict (1): The Diversionary/Scapegoat Theory of War; The Role of Internal Conflict (2): Contested Institutions; The Role of Internal Conflict (3):"Kick 'Em While They're Down" Wars; The Role of Internal Conflict (4): Revolution; The Role of Internal Conflict (5): Outside Intervention in Internal Conflicts; The Role of Internal Conflict: Summing Up and Implications. The Role of NationalismThe Role of War Weariness; Conclusion; 7 The Dyadic Level of Analysis, Part I; The Role of Contiguity and Territorial Disputes; The Role of Shared Ethnicity; The Role of Rivalry; The Role of Regime Types in Dyads; The Role of Dyadic Power Balances; Conclusion; 8 The Dyadic Level of Analysis, Part II; The Role of Action and Reaction in Dyads (I): The Spiral Model; The Role of Conciliatory Responses in the Spiral Model: Liberal and Conservative Views; Implications for Theory and Policy: The Security Dilemma; The Spiral Model: A Dissenting Opinion
The Role of Actions and Reactions (II): Arms Races
English