The War Puzzle Revisited

A scientific explanation of the onset and expansion of war and the conditions of peace.

John A. Vasquez (Author)

9780521881791, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 23 July 2009

500 pages, 9 tables
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.8 cm, 0.92 kg

'This outstanding book is a successor to its influential predecessor, The War Puzzle.' Patrick James, Peace and Change

John A. Vasquez's The War Puzzle provided one of the most important scientific analyses of the causes of war of the last two decades. The War Puzzle Revisited updates and extends his groundbreaking work, reviewing research on the onset and expansion of war and the conditions of peace. Vasquez describes systematically those factors associated with wars to see if there is a pattern that suggests why war occurs, and how it might be avoided, delineating the typical path by which relatively equal states have become embroiled in wars in the modern global system. The book uses the large number of empirical findings generated s the basis of its theorizing, and integrates these research findings so as to advance the scientific knowledge of war and peace.

Preface
Part I. Preliminaries: Introduction
1. Conceptualizing war
2. Types of war
3. Power politics and war
Retrospective commentary on Part I
Part II. The Onset and Expansion of Wars of Rivalry: 4. Territorial contiguity as a source of conflict leading to war
5. The realist road to war
6. The domestic prerequisites of wars of rivalry
7. Explaining World War: its scope, severity and duration
8. Peace
9. Conclusion: solving the puzzle of war
Retrospective commentary on Part II
Part III. Findings on the Steps to War, 1994–2008: 10. Research findings on territory, war and peace
11. Research findings on power politics and war
Appendix I. Propositional summary
Appendix II. Major findings on the steps to war.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS], Military history [HBW]