Asymmetric Conflicts
War Initiation by Weaker Powers

This book asks why weaker powers so often engage in wars against stronger opponents.

T. V. Paul (Author)

9780521466219, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 10 March 1994

264 pages, 2 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.39 kg

"Asymmetric Conflicts makes a valuable contribution to initiation theory by investigating a puzzling, yet recurring, phenomenon in international politics: the tendency of weak states to initiate war against stronger adversaries....[T]he case studies make a good read; they are structured around a consistent set of theoretically interesting questions and present a sensible understanding of historical events. Moreover, the author has conducted extensive research, including personal interviews with historians and participants....Paul's book studies a familiar question in a fresh light....[B]y bringing together a number of important hypotheses and carefully applying them to a specific set of cases, Paul's work advances our understanding of an issue vital to the study of foreign and security policy." Susan Peterson, Journal of Interdisciplinary History

This book examines a question generally neglected in the study of international relations: why does a militarily and economically less powerful state initiate conflict against a relatively strong state? T. V. Paul analyses this phenomenon by focusing on the strategic and political considerations, domestic and international, which influence a weaker state to initiate war against a more powerful adversary. The key argument of deterrence theory is that the military superiority of the status quo power, coupled with a credible retaliatory threat, will prevent attack by challengers. The author challenges this assumption by examining six twentieth-century asymmetric wars, from the Japanese offensive against Russia in 1904 to the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982. The book's findings have wide implications for the study of war, power, deterrence, coercive diplomacy, strategy, arms races, and alliances.

Part I. Theoretical Framework: 1. Introduction: war initiation in international relations theory
2. Explaining war initiation by weaker powers in asymmetric conflicts
Part II. The Case Studies: 3. The Japanese offensive against Russia, 1904
4. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 1941
5. The Chinese intervention in Korea, 1950
6. The Pakistani offensive in Kashmir, 1965
7. The Egyptian offensive in the Sinai, 1973
8. The Argentine invasion of the Falklands/Malvinas, 1982
9. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS], Political science & theory [JPA], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], General & world history [HBG]