Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T14:33:23.732Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Has Violence Declined in World Politics?

A Discussion of Joshua S. Goldstein's Winning the War on War: The Decline of Armed Conflict Worldwide

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2013

Page Fortna
Page Fortna*
Affiliation:
Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, Columbia University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Winning the War on War: The Decline of Armed Conflict Worldwide. By Joshua S. Goldstein. New York: Dutton, 2011. 400p. $26.95 cloth, $17.00 paper.

Violence is an ever present and very visible feature of our political landscape. And war—its strategy, its preparation, and its conduct—remains a central preoccupation of political elites and of political scientists. In his new book Winning the War on War, Joshua S. Goldstein sifts the statistical and historiographical evidence to tell a story of how we seem to be winning the long-term fight against war, and why. Goldstein places major emphasis on the rise of international peacekeeping, but he also discusses alternative explanations, such as the liberal peace. In this symposium a number of scholars of international politics, comparative politics, and political theory have been asked to comment on Goldstein's book and on the broader theme it addresses.—Jeffrey C. Isaac, Editor

Type
Review Symposium: Has Violence Declined in World Politics?
Information
Perspectives on Politics , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , June 2013 , pp. 566 - 570
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Doyle, Michael W., and Sambanis, Nicholas. 2006. Making War and Building Peace: United Nations Peace Operations. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Fortna, Virginia Page. 2004. Peace Time: Cease-Fire Agreements and the Durability of Peace. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Fortna, Virginia Page. 2008. Does Peacekeeping Work? Shaping Belligerents' Choices after Civil War. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Fortna, Virginia Page. 2009. “Where Have all the Victories Gone? Peacekeeping and War Outcomes.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Toronto.Google Scholar
Gilligan, Michael J., and Sergenti, Ernest J.. 2008. “Does Peacekeeping Keep Peace? Using Matching to Improve Causal Inference.” Quarterly Journal of Political Science 3(2): 89–122.Google Scholar
Gowan, Richard. 2011. Multilateral Political Missions and Preventive Diplomacy. United States Institute of Peace Special Report. Washington, DC: USIP.Google Scholar
Holsti, Kalevi J. 1991. Peace and War: Armed Conflicts and International Order 1648–1989. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Licklider, Roy. 1995. “The Consequences of Negotiated Settlements in Civil Wars, 1945–1993.” American Political Science Review 89(3): 681–87.Google Scholar
Luttwak, Edward N. 1999. “Give War a Chance.” Foreign Affairs 78(4): 36–44.Google Scholar
Maoz, Zeev. 1984. “Peace by Empire? Conflict Outcomes and International Stability, 1816 1976.” Journal of Peace Research 21(3): 227–41.Google Scholar
Mueller, John E. 1989. Retreat from Doomsday: The Obsolescence of Major War. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Pinker, Steven. 2011. The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined. New York: Viking.Google Scholar
Stam, Allan C. 1996. Win, Lose, or Draw: Domestic Politics and the Crucible of War. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Toft, Monica Duffy. 2010. “Ending Civil Wars: A Case for Rebel Victory?” International Security 34(4): 7–36.Google Scholar
Walter, Barbara F. 2002. Committing to Peace: The Successful Settlement of Civil Wars. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Werner, Suzanne. 1999. “The Precarious Nature of Peace: Resolving the Issues, Enforcing the Settlement, and Renegotiating the Terms.” American Journal of Political Science 43(3): 912–34.Google Scholar