Author : Richard Ned Lebow
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521170451
Total Pages : 318 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (74 download)
Book Synopsis Why Nations Fight by : Richard Ned Lebow
Download or read book Why Nations Fight written by Richard Ned Lebow and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2010-09-02 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.