Format:
1 online resource (230 pages)
ISBN:
9780813163659
Content:
The apparently accelerating arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union and the precarious political conditions existing in many parts of the world have given rise to new anxiety about the possibility of military confrontation between the superpowers. Despite the fateful nature of the risk, we have little knowledge, as Jack S. Levy has pointed out, "of the conditions, processes, and events which might combine to generate such a calamity." No empirically confirmed theory of the causes of war exists, and the hypotheses -- often contradictory -- that have been proposed remain untested. As a step toward the formulation of a theory of the causes of war that can be tested against historical experience, Levy has developed a unique data base that will serve as an invaluable resource for students of international conflict in coming years. War in the Modern Great Power System provides a much-needed perspective on the major wars of the past. In this thorough and systematic study, Levy carefully defines the Great Power concept and identifies the Great Powers and their international wars since the late fifteenth century. The resulting compilation of war data is unique because of its five-century span and its focus on a well-defined set of Great Powers. Turning to a quantitative analysis of the characteristics, patterns, and trends in war, Levy demonstrates that although wars between the Great Powers have become increasingly serious in every respect but duration over the last five hundred years, their frequency has diminished. He rejects the popular view that the twentieth century has been the most warlike on record, and he demonstrates that it instead constitutes a return to the historical norm after the exceptionally peaceful nineteenth century. Applying his data to the question whether war is "contagious," he finds that the likelihood of war is
Content:
Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- 1. Introduction: The Empirical Study of War -- 2. The Modern Great Power System -- Assumptions of the Great Power Framework -- Definition of the Great Power Concept -- Origins of the Modem Great Power System -- Composition of the System -- Exclusions from the System -- The Modem Great Power System -- 3. Definition and Identification of the Wars -- Definition of War -- Existing Compilations of Wars -- Criteria for Inclusion and Exclusion -- Initiation, Termination, and Aggregation of War -- Potential Biases in the Selection Procedures -- Wars in the Modem Great Power System -- 4. Measurement of the Wars -- Conceptualization of War -- Operational Indicators and Measurement Procedures -- The War Data -- 5. Quantitative Description of the Wars -- Characteristics of Individual Wars -- Yearly Amount of War -- Relationships among the War Indicators -- 6. Historical Trends in War -- Linear Trends -- Cyclical Trends -- Comparison of Historical Periods -- Interpretation of Historical Trends -- 7. War Contagion -- Conceptualization of War Contagion -- The Contagion of Individual Wars -- Frequencies of War in Successive Periods -- Contagion of the Total Amount of War -- Summary and Interpretation -- 8. Conclusion: A Base for Further Investigation -- Appendix: Estimation of Missing Battle Death Data -- Notes -- Selected Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W.
Note:
Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources
Additional Edition:
ISBN 9780813153391
Additional Edition:
Erscheint auch als Druck-Ausgabe ISBN 9780813153391
Language:
English
URL:
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/kxp/detail.action?docID=1915689
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