Why We Fight

The Roots of War and the Paths to Peace

Why We Fight
Christopher Blattman
RRP:
NZ$ 50.00
Our Price:
NZ$ 40.00
Hardback
h222 x 138mm - 320pg
21 Apr 2022 UK
International import eta 7-19 days
9780241444504
Out Of Stock
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Based on two decades of research, the five causes of wars and four ways to stop themThe truth is, warfare shouldn' t happen - and most of the time it doesn' t. Around the world there are millions of hostile rivalries at any given moment and yet only a tiny fraction erupt into prolonged fighting. Most books on conflict forget this. So in those rare instances of war, what broke down and kept the sides from compromise? From unchecked interests and intangible incentives, through uncertainty commitment problems and misperceptions, this peerlessly authoritative and thought-provoking book shows that there are only so many logical possibilities for why we fight and how by knowing them we can act to prevent war altogether. Drawing on the latest research in behavioural economics; gripping, counterintuitive examples from the long history of warfare around the world; and distinguished professor Christopher Blattman' s own experience in warzones, we see, for example, how queens have waged war more than kings; that the homicide rate in the ganglands of Medellin, Columbia is lower than you think; and that even monkeys have an innate righteousness. In an accessible, intuitive structure framed around causes and solutions, Why We Fight is a hopeful book, with answers to some of history' s most important questions. In an age of growing isolationism and the weakening of global institutions, this book couldn' t be timelier.
Wise, intriguing, imaginative -- Rory Stewart, author of The Places in Between Important, readable, radical -- David Miliband, President and CEO, International Rescue Committee An inspiring report from the trenches of the war against war, Why We Fight brings together the passion of the activist and the cool head of the economist to offer practical solutions to one of humanity' s most intractable problems -- Ian Morris, author of Why the West Rules - for Now Magnificent, engaging and profound -- Nicholas A. Christakis, author of Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society A vital new perspective -- Roger Myerson, Nobel Laureate
Christopher Blattman is the Ramalee E. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies at the University of Chicago in the Harris School of Public Policy and The Pearson Institute. As a young man, he met his future wife in a Kenyan internet cafe, where she set him on a path to working on conflict and international development. He' s now done so for 21 years. Through his academic work he has witnessed (and helped to stem) violence around the world. Blattman writes regularly for The New York Times, Vox, Foreign Policy and Foreign Affairs, among others. For 13 years he has run one of the most popular blogs on international affairs and global development, and is one of the 25 most followed economists on Twitter. This is his first trade book.
Status: Active
ISBN-13: 9780241444504
Published: 21 Apr 2022
Published In: United Kingdom
Imprint: Viking
Publisher: Penguin Books
Format: Hardback
Height: 222mm
Width: 138mm
Spine: 40mm
Weight: 500g
Pages: 320

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