New approaches to understanding war and peace in the changing international system. What causes war? How can wars be prevented? Scholars and policymakers have sought the answers to these questions for centuries. Although wars continue to occur, recent scholarship has made progress toward developing more sophisticated and perhaps more useful theories on the causes and prevention of war. This volume includes essays by leading scholars on contemporary approaches to understanding war and peace. The essays include expositions, analyses, and critiques of some of the more prominent and enduring explanations of war. Several authors discuss realist theories of war, which focus on the distribution of power and the potential for offensive war. Others examine the prominent hypothesis that the spread of democracy will usher in an era of peace. In light of the apparent increase in nationalism and ethnic conflict, several authors present hypotheses on how nationalism causes war and how such wars can be controlled. Contributors also engage in a vigorous debate on whether international institutions can promote peace. In a section on war and peace in the changing international system, several authors consider whether rising levels of international economic independence and environmental scarcity will influence the likelihood of war.

This book presents a clear and comprehensive introduction to the diverse and wide-ranging ethical aspects of war and peace. In a fair-minded and engaging analysis, Nigel Dower introduces the different ethical theories in traditional and contemporary debates ? realism, just war theory and pacifism ? and subjects each to detailed critical scrutiny. He frames these debates within a related but distinct framework of three approaches to international relations, namely skeptical realism, internationalism and cosmopolitanism. The book also identifies and evaluates two further important perspectives, militarism and pacificism. Whilst analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of the different outlooks, Dower makes a strong case for a cosmopolitan pacificist position, arguing that we need to see peace in more positive terms than merely the absence of war. The book uses a wide range of examples from across the world and includes discussion of nuclear weapons, new wars, terrorism, humanitarian intervention and human security. Written as a textbook for students who have no prior knowledge of philosophical ethics, The Ethics of War and Peace is designed to help students understand and see the relevance of how a professional philosopher can engage ethically with the world. Each chapter contains a helpful survey of its contents at the beginning and a set of questions for individual reflection or group discussion at the end. This book will be essential reading for students of security studies, conflict resolution, peace studies, philosophy and political theory and anyone interested in the ethical questions which arise from the study of war and peace.

This volume of wide-ranging essays by sport historians and sociologists examines the complex relations of war, peace and sport through a series of case studies from South and North America, Europe, North Africa, Asia and New Zealand. From formal military training in the late nineteenth century to contemporary esports, the relationship between military and sporting cultures has endured across nations in times of conflict and peace. This collection contextualizes debates around the morality and desirability of continuing to play sport against the backdrop of war as others are dying for their nation. It also examines the legacy and memory of particular wars as expressed in a range of sporting practices in the immediate aftermath of conflicts such as the World Wars and wars of independence. At the same time, this book analyses the history of sport and peace by considering how sport can operate as a pacification in some contexts and a tool of reconciliation in others. Together, and through an introductory framing essay, these essays offer scholars of sport, conflict studies and cultural history more broadly a multinational analysis of the war-peace-sport nexus that has operated throughout the world since the late nineteenth century. Chapter 11 of this book is available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.taylorfrancis.com. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. Funded by Tokyo University.

This book explores a new way for students of International Relations to look at war, peace and world orders throughout European history. The contributors argue that the predominant 'realist' paradigm that focuses on states and their self-interest is not applicable to the largest period of European history, because states either did not exist or were only in the making. Instead, they argue, we have to look through the eyes of historical entities to see how they understood the world in which they lived, The authors use a wide range of case-studies, focusing on subjects as diverse as the ancient Greek concept of honour and persecution under Communist regimes during the Cold War to explore the ways in which people in different societies at different times perceived and felt about war and peace in the world around them.

5 War and Peace in Shi'i Primary Narratives and Sources -- 6 Traditional Shi'i Ethics of War and Peace Untested: Jihad, Ideology, Revolution, and War -- 7 Postwar Revision and the Reconstruction of Modern Iranian-Shi'i Ethics of War and Peace -- 8 Terrorism and Shi'i Theologies of Martyrdom, Nonviolence, and Forgiveness -- 9 Diplomacy in between Nuclear Technology and Antibomb Theology -- Conclusion: Beyond a Minority Mentality: The Emerging Shi'i-Iranian Cosmopolitanism

Wirral at War is a tribute to the wartime record of the people of the Wirral in the two World Wars.

Tarek Cherkaoui reveals how geo-political and ideological legacies of the past, which divide the world into a dichotomy of 'us' against 'them', play a dominant role in reinforcing the ensuing polarisation of our media.

Religious political violence is by no means a new phenomenon, yet there are critical differences between the various historical instances of such violence and its more current permutations. Since the mid-1970s, religious fundamentalist movements have been seeking to influence world order by participating in local political systems. For example, Islamic fundamentalism is at the heart of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the Christian fundamental right wing has seen a resurgence in Europe, and Jewish fundamentalism is behind the actions of Meir Kahane’s Kach movement and the settler movement. The shift in recent years from secular to religious political violence necessitates a reevaluation of contemporary political violence and of the concept of religious violence. This text analyzes the evolution of religious political violence, in both historical and contemporary perspectives. Since religious political violent events are usually associated with the term “terrorism,” the book first analyzes the origins of this controversial term and its religious manifestations. It then outlines and highlights the differences between secular and religious political violence, on ideological, strategic, and tactical levels before comparing the concept of Holy War in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Lastly, it shows how modern radical monotheistic religious groups interpret and manipulate their religious sources and ideas to advocate their political agendas, including the practice of violence. A unique comparative study of religious political violence across Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, this text features many international case studies from the Crusades to the Arab Spring.

A collection of essays from leading academics about the nature of war and the capacity for peace as applied to human nature.