History, International & World Politics, History & Theory, War & Peace, National & International Security, Political History, International Relations 

New approaches to understanding war and peace in the changing international system.

What causes war? How can wars be prevented? Scholars and policymakers have sought the answers to these questions for centuries. Although wars continue to occur, recent scholarship has made progress toward developing more sophisticated and perhaps more useful theories on the causes and prevention of war. This volume includes essays by leading scholars on contemporary approaches to understanding war and peace. The essays include expositions, analyses, and critiques of some of the more prominent and enduring explanations of war. Several authors discuss realist theories of war, which focus on the distribution of power and the potential for offensive war. Others examine the prominent hypothesis that the spread of democracy will usher in an era of peace. In light of the apparent increase in nationalism and ethnic conflict, several authors present hypotheses on how nationalism causes war and how such wars can be controlled. Contributors also engage in a vigorous debate on whether international institutions can promote peace. In a section on war and peace in the changing international system, several authors consider whether rising levels of international economic independence and environmental scarcity will influence the likelihood of war. 

New approaches to understanding war and peace in the changing international system.What causes war? How can wars be prevented? Scholars and policymakers have sought the answers to these questions for centuries. Although wars continue to occur, recent scholarship has made progress toward developing more sophisticated and perhaps more useful theories on the causes and prevention of war. This volume includes essays by leading scholars on contemporary approaches to understanding war and peace. The essays include expositions, analyses, and critiques of some of the more prominent and enduring explanations of war. Several authors discuss realist theories of war, which focus on the distribution of power and the potential for offensive war. Others examine the prominent hypothesis that the spread of democracy will usher in an era of peace. In light of the apparent increase in nationalism and ethnic conflict, several authors present hypotheses on how nationalism causes war and how such wars can be controlled. Contributors also engage in a vigorous debate on whether international institutions can promote peace. In a section on war and peace in the changing international system, several authors consider whether rising levels of international economic independence and environmental scarcity will influence the likelihood of war. - from Amzon 

CONTENTS
PART 1:REALIST THEORIES OF WAR AND PEACE

Back to the Future: instability in Europe after the cold war......................p 3
john J.Mearsheimer
Offense,Defense, and the causes of war...............................................P 55
Stephen Van Evera
Realist as optimisms:Cooperation as Selp-Help.....................................P 94
Charies L.Glaser
PART II:DEMOCRACY AND WAR
How Liberalism Produces Democratic Peace.......................................P 137
John M.Owen
Kant or Cant;The myth of the Democratic Peace................................P 176
Christopher Layne
Democratization and the damage of war..............................................p 221
Edward D. Mansfield and Jack Snyder
PART III:NATIONALISM ETHNICITY AND WAR
Hypotheses of Nationalism and War...................................................P 257
Stephen Van Evera
Containing Fear: The Origin and Management of Ethnic Conflict...............p 292
David A. Lake and Donald Rothchild
PART IV: INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, WAR AND PEACE
The False Promise of International Institution.........................................P 329
john J.Mearsheimer
The Promise of Institutionalist Theory....................................................P 384
Robert O. Keohane and Lisa L,Martin
The Promise of Collective Security.........................................................P 397
Charles A,Kupchan and Clifford A.Kupchan
The False Promise Realism...................................................................P 407
John Gerard Ruggie
Constructing International Politics.........................................................P 416
john J.Mearsheimer
A Realist Reply...................................................................................P 427
PART V:WAR AND PEACE IN CHANGING INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM
Is War Obsolete? A Review Essay..........................................................P 441
Carl Kaysen
Economic Independence and war A Theory Trade Expectation...................P 464
Dale C.Copeland
Environmental Scarcities and Violent Conflict Evidence from Cases.............P 501
Thomas F.Homer Dixon
The Utility of Force in a World of Scarcity.................................................P 537
John Orme