Causes of War

Undergraduate catalogue cross-listing

Why do states and peoples go to war? Conversely, how can war be avoided? This course surveys some of the most important explanations--including human nature, the anarchic international system, domestic politics, imperialism, technology, and nationalism--and evaluates them in light of historical wars, and of past crises resolved short of war. Cases include the Peloponnesian War, the Napoleonic Wars, World War I, World War II in both Europe and Asia, the Cuban missile crisis, and ex-Yugoslavia's wars.