Synopses & Reviews
Review
"The study's broad scope and its accessibility render it an admirable student text. ... It is not only its findings, but also its methods which pose an interesting challenge to the prevailing modes of analysis in international relations." International Journal"Holsti's approach is also salient: transcending the simple empiricism of so many US scholars of international relations during the 1960s, 1970s and even the 1980s; rejecting all mono-causal explanations of war and casting doubt upon sociological accounts of international conflict and violence. Politics, for Holsti 'is purposeful activity' and the study of international politics can thus be recovered as a humanistic discipline." R.J. Barry Jones, Times Higher Education Supplement"Combined with its astute investigation of the attitudes of the statesman, the empirical findings of this pioneering work make this book rich ground for subsequent theory development...A full incorporation of other approaches to world politics with the splendid empirical assessments of this volume promises many further insights into the cause and results of aspirations to world order." American Political Science Review
Synopsis
In this book, Professor Holsti approaches the study of the origins of war and the foundations of peace from a new perspective. By examining 177 international wars between 1648 and 1989, he addresses three interrelated questions. Which issues generate conflict? How have attitudes towards war changed? And, what attempts have been made historically to create international orders and institutions that can manage, control or prevent conflicts? He demonstrates how the great peace-making efforts of 1648, 1713, 1815, 1919 and 1945 attempted to solve the issues of the past, yet few successfully anticipated those of the future. Indeed, some created the basis of new conflicts.
Synopsis
Professor Holsti examines the origins of war and the foundations of peace of the last 350 years.
Synopsis
Starting with the peace treaties of Munster and Osnabruck of 1648, 177 international wars are examined to analyze conflict-producing issues as well as the changing attitudes of policy makers and their success at conflict resolution over 350 years.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 354-367) and index.
Table of Contents
Preface; 1. On the study of war; 2. Munster and Osnabruck: peace by pieces; 3. War and peace in the era of the heroic warriors, 1648-1713; 4. Act Two of the hegemony drama: the Utrecht settlements; 5. The lethal minuet: war and peace among the Princes of Christendom, 1715-1814; 6. Peace through equilibrium: the settlements of 1814-1815; 7. Conflict and consent, 1815-1914; 8. 1919: peace through democracy and covenant; 9. War as the aftermath of peace: international conflict 1918-1941; 10. Peace by policing; 11. The diversification of warfare: issues and attitudes in the contemporary international system; 12. Issues, war, and international theory; 13. The peacemakers: issues and international order; Bibliography; Additional data sources; Index.