Why Nations Fight: Past and Future Motives for War (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780521192835)

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.

Author: Richard Ned LeBow
ISBN-10: 0521192838
ISBN-13: 9780521192835
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 09/02/2010
Pages: 308
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.55lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 1.00d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 05/01/2011