1.1.3. ("The Causes of War and the Conditions of Peace,") Strategy in the Contemporary World: An Introduction to Strategic Studies, edited by John Baylis, James Wirtz, Eliot Cohen and Collin S. Gray. New York: Oxford University Press: 6th Edition, John Garnett and John Baylis, "The Causes of War and the Conditions of Peace," 72-87.
- If we are interested in ending war (which we are, because modern wars are too destructive) than we need to know what causes war
- There are multiple potential causes, some more hopeful than others that we can end war (i.e. innate human behavior will be hard to combat but a learned behavior can be unlearned).
- Conclusions from this chapter:
- There is no one, single cause of war.
- Because of the multiplicity of causes of war, ending it will require efforts on the international and domestic political scenes.
- A world-wide "just" peace is unobtainable.
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- Human nature (unpalatable) vs. human behavior (also not great, but we can modify human behavior on the individual and state levels in order to end war.
- Human Nature Explanations of War p. 76-7
- Frustration Explanations of War p. 77-8
Social psychologists believe that war is the result of frustration, which is then displaced onto your nation; also believe that aggression can be channeled into healthier pursuits such as sports (sublimation). If it is human behavior than social engineering will help.
- Misperceptions Explanations of War p. 78-80
Wars that result from the misperception, misunderstanding, and miscalculations of statesmen could be prevented by better communication.
Statesmen stumbled into World War 2 based on misperceptions, misunderstandings, and miscalculations.
To prevent war, must have more clear thinking, better communication among countries, and education.
It will be very challenging not to have wars because humans are predisposed to the need to simplify, the inability to empathize, the tendency towards ethnocentrism, the reluctance to relinquish prejudices
War can be caused by two groups of statesmen only because they're unable to understand the other person's view point.
- Group Explanations of War p. 80-28
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Le Bon noticed that the behavior of people in a group is much worse than the individual --> crowd psychology
Is there a type of group that is or will be less prone to war? Haven't found them yet. Even liberal democracies go to war as frequently as other nations, just not with each other.
The current passion for waging war to spread democracy does not bode well for a future war-free states.
- The Bargaining Model and the Causes of War p. 82
These theorists focus on political causes of war such as uncertainty, commitment issues, and the invidvisibility of some issues in disputes.
War breaks out when two sides can't agree on a settlement that both likes better than war; war ends when they're able to settle on terms that they prefer better to war.
Argument that human beings are genetically programmed towards violence although there is debate whether it is innate or learned behavior.
If it is innate (conservative argument), that is hard to combat; if it is human behavior (liberal argument) then we can (hopefully unlearn that behavior.