States, Nations, and the Great Powers
The Sources of Regional War and Peace

This book offers a novel theory of war and peace developed through an analysis of regional conflict.

Benjamin Miller (Author)

9780521871228, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 30 August 2007

526 pages, 8 b/w illus. 22 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.9 cm, 0.87 kg

'Debates about the causes of war have tended to focus on conflict among the great powers and the global balance of power. This important study asserts that the real puzzles of war and peace exist on a lesser scale within regions. … Although highly theoretical, the book is full of useful insights about potential pathways toward regional peacemaking, particularly in regard to the Middle East.' Foreign Affairs

Why are some regions prone to war while others remain at peace? What conditions cause regions to move from peace to war and vice versa? This book offers a novel theoretical explanation for the differences and transitions between war and peace. The author distinguishes between 'hot' and 'cold' outcomes, depending on intensity of the war or the peace, and then uses three key concepts (state, nation, and the international system) to argue that it is the specific balance between states and nations in different regions that determines the hot or warm outcomes: the lower the balance, the higher the war proneness of the region, while the higher the balance, the warmer the peace. The theory of regional war and peace developed in this book is examined through case-studies of the post-1945 Middle East, the Balkans and South America in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and post-1945 Western Europe.

1. Why some regions are peaceful and others are not
2. A theory of regional war and peace
3. States, nations and war
4. Explaining the war-proneness of the Middle East in a comparative perspective
5. The great powers and war and peace in the Middle East
6. War and peace in the Balkans: states, nations and great powers
7. The state-to-nation balance and the emergence of peace in South America during the twentieth century
8. The emergence of high-level peace in post-1945 Western Europe: Nationalism, democracy, hegemony and regional integration
9. Conclusions.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS], General & world history [HBG], Peace studies & conflict resolution [GTJ]