Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T03:37:58.237Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The emotive causes of recurrent international conflicts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2016

William J. Long  and
Peter Brecke
William J. Long
Affiliation:
Sam Nunn School of International Affairs Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA 30332-0610 USA william.long@inta.gatech.edu
Peter Brecke
Affiliation:
Sam Nunn School of International Affairs Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA 30332-0610 USA peter.brecke@inta.gatech.edu

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Many international conflicts are recurrent, and many of these are characterized by periods of violence, including wars, that are hard to describe as planned products of rational decision-making. Analysis of these conflicts according to rational-choice international-relations theory or constructivist approaches has been less revealing than might have been hoped. We consider the possibility that emotive causes could better explain, or at least improve the explanation of, observed patterns. We offer three emotive models of recurrent conflict and we outline a method by which the reliability of emotive explanations derived from these models could be tested prospectively.

Type
Research Article
Information
Politics and the Life Sciences , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , March 2003 , pp. 24 - 35
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Politics and the Life Sciences 

References

1.Levy, Jack S., “The Causes of War: A Review of Theories and Evidence,” in Tetlock, Philip E., et al., eds., Behavior, Society and Nuclear War, vol. one (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989), pp. 209–333.Google Scholar
2.De Mesquita, Bruce Bueno, The War Trap (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981); Gartzke, Eric and Simon, Michael W., “‘Hot Hand’: A Critical Analysis of Enduring Rivalries,” The Journal of Politics, vol. 61, no. 3, August 1999, pp. 777–98.Google Scholar
3.Goertz, Gary and Diehl, Paul F., “Enduring Rivalries: Theoretical Constructs and Empirical Patterns,” International Studies Quarterly, vol. 37, 1993, pp. 145–171; Goertz, Gary and Diehl, Paul F., “The Empirical Importance of Enduring Rivalries,” International Interactions, vol. 18, 1992, pp. 151–63; Wayman, Frank W. and Jones, Daniel W., “Evolution of Conflict in Enduring Rivalries,” paper presented at the 32nd Annual Convention of the International Studies Association, March 19–23, Vancouver Canada, 1991.Google Scholar
4.Gochman, Charles S. and Maoz, Zeev, “Militarized Interstate Disputes, 1816–1976,” Journal of Conflict Resolution, vol. 28, no. 4, December 1984, pp. 585–615.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.Long, William J. and Brecke, Peter, War and Reconciliation: Reason and Emotion in Conflict Resolution (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2003), pp. 5–6, with data available atwww.inta.gatech.edu/peterpss99_paper.html; Gurr, Ted Robert, “Ethnic Warfare on the Wane,” Foreign Affairs, May/June 2000, pp. 52–64.Google Scholar
6.Stinnett, Douglas M. and Diehl, Paul F., “The Path(s) to Rivalry: Behavioral and Structural Explanations of Rivalry Development,” The Journal of Politics, vol. 63, no. 3, August 2001, pp. 717–740.Google Scholar
7.Ibid.Google Scholar
8.Ibid.Google Scholar
9.Waltz, Kenneth, Theory of International Politics (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1979).Google Scholar
10.Geller, David S. and Singer, J. David, Nations at War (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), p. 95.Google Scholar
11.Vasquez, John, The War Puzzle (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993).Google Scholar
12.Waltz, Kenneth, Theory of International Politics.Google Scholar
13.Clausewitz, Karl von, War, Politics, and Power (Chicago: Gateway, 1962).Google Scholar
14.Organski, A.F.K. and Kugler, Jacek, The War Ledger (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980); Kugler, Jacek and Lemke, Douglas, eds., Parity and War: Evaluations and Extensions of the War Ledger (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1996).Google Scholar
15.Vasquez, John, The War Puzzle.Google Scholar
16.Scheff, Thomas J., Bloody Revenge: Emotion, Nationalism, and War (Boulder: Westview Press, 1994, p. 94.Google Scholar
17.Stinnitt, Douglas M. and Diehl, Paul F., “The Path(s) to Rivalry,” p. 719, citingHensel, Paul R., The Evolution of Interstate Rivalry, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Illinois, Urbana, 1996.Google Scholar
18.Ibid.Google Scholar
19.Stinnett, Douglas M. and Deihl, Paul F., “The Path(s) to Rivalry”; Stein, Janice Gross, “Image, Identity, and the Resolution of Violent Conflict,” in Turbulent Peace, pp. 189–208.Google Scholar
20.Scheff, Thomas J. and Retzinger, Suzanne M., Emotions and Violence: Shame and Rage in Destructive Conflicts (Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1991), p. xvii.Google Scholar
21.Howard, Michael, “The Causes of War,” in Turbulent Peace, Crocker, Chester A., Hampson, Fen Osier, and Aall, Pamela, eds. (Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press, 2001), pp. 29–38, at 32.Google Scholar
22.Ibid.Google Scholar
23.Crawford, Neta C., “The Passion of World Politics,” International Security, vol. 24, 2000, pp. 116–56.Google Scholar
24.Monroe, Kirsten Renwick and Maher, Kristen Hill, “Psychology and the Rational Actor Theory,” Political Psychology, vol. 16, no. 1, 1995, pp. 1–21.Google Scholar
25.De Mesquita, Bruce Bueno, The War Trap, p. 5.Google Scholar
26.Simon, Herbert, “Rational Choice and the Structure of the Environment,” Psychology Review, vol. 63, 1956, pp. 129–138; Tversky, Amos and Kahneman, Daniel, “Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases,” Science, vol. 185, September 1974, pp. 1124–1131.Google Scholar
27.Allison, Graham, Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis, 2nd ed. (New York; Pearson Longman, 1999); Steinbruner, John, The Cybernetic Theory of Decision, 2nd ed. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002); Hersman, Rebecca, Friend and Foes: How Congress and the President Really Make Foreign Policy (Washington, DC: Brookings, 2000).Google Scholar
28.See ArthurLupin, , McCubbins, Mathew D., and Popkin, Samuel L., eds., Elements of Reason: Cognition Choice and the Bounds of Rationality (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2000); Marcus, George E., Neuman, W. Russell and McKuen, Michael, eds., Affective Intelligence and Political Judgment (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000); Goodwin, Jeff, Jasper, James M. and Polletta, Francesca, eds., Passionate Politics (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001).Google Scholar
29.SeeFriedman, Milton, “The Methodology of Positive Economics,” in Friedman, Milton, ed., Essays in Positive Economics (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1953).Google Scholar
30.Barbalet, J. M., Emotion, Social Theory, and Social Structure: A Macrosociological Approach (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 22–23.Google Scholar
31.Lane, Richard D., Nadel, Lynn, Allen, John B., and Kasniak, Alfred W., “The Study of Emotion from the Perspective of Cognitive Neuroscience,” in Lane, Richard D. and Nadel, Lyn, eds., Cognitive Neuroscience of Emotion (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), pp. 3–11.Google Scholar
32.Damasio, Antonio, The Feeling of What Happens, p. 285.Google Scholar
33.LeDoux, Joseph, The Emotional Brain (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996), p. 127.Google Scholar
34.Damasio, Antonio, The Feeling of What Happens, p. 285.Google Scholar
35.Panksepp, Jaak, Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotion (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 47. Clore, Gerald L. and Ortony, Andrew, “Cognition in Emotion: Always, Sometimes, or Never?” in Lane, Richard D. and Nadel, Lynn, eds., Cognitive Neuroscience of Emotion, pp. 24–61.Google Scholar
36.Lane, Richard D., Nadel, Lynn, Allen, John B. and Kasniak, Alfred W., “The Study of Emotion from the Perspective of Cognitive Neuroscience,” pp. 3–11.Google Scholar
37.SeeMogg, Karen and Bradley, Brendan P., “Selective Attention and Anxiety: A Cognitive-Motivational Perspective,” in Dalgleish, Tim and Power, M., eds., Handbook of Cognition and Emotion (New York: Wiley, 1999); Niedenthal, P. M. and Setterlund, M. B., “Emotional Congruence in Perception,” Personality and Social Psychological Bulletin, vol. 20, no. 4, 1994, pp. 401–411; Kitayama, C. S., “Impairment of Perception by Positive and Negative Affect,” Cognition and Emotion, vol. 5, 1991, pp. 255–274; Lazarus, Richard S., Emotion and Adaptation (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991).Google Scholar
38.Zajonc, Robert, “Feeling and Thinking: Preferences Need No Inferences”; Tranel, Daniel, Bechara, Antoine, and Damasio, Antonio, “Decision Making and the Somatic Marker Hypothesis,” in Garraniga, Michael S., ed., The New Cognitive Neurosciences (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1999), pp. 1047–1061.Google Scholar
39.James, William, The Principles of Psychology (New York: Henry Holt, 1890); Christianson, Sven, ed., The Handbook of Emotional Memory: Research and Theory (Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1992). See also, McGaugh, J. L., Cahill, L., and Roozendaal, B., “Involvement of the Amygdala in Memory Storage: Interaction with Other Brain Systems,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, vol. 93, 1996, pp. 13508–13514; Neisser, U., Winograd, E., Bergman, E., Shrieber, A, Palmer, S., and Wilson, M. S., “Remembering the Earthquake: Direct Experience versus Hearing the News,” Memory, vol. 4, 1996, pp. 337–357; Stratton, G., “Retroactive Hyperamnesia and other Emotional Effects on Memory,” Psychological Review, vol. 26, 1991, pp. 474–486; Bohannon, J. N., “Flashbulb Memories of the Space Shuttle Disaster: A Tale of Two Theories,” Cognition, vol. 29, 1988, pp. 179–196.Google Scholar
40.Damasio, Antonio, Descarte's Error (New York: Putnam, 1994); The Feeling of What Happens.Google Scholar
41.Tranel, Daniel, Bechara, Antoine, and Damasio, Antonio, “Decision Making and the Somatic Marker Hypothesis,” in Garraniga, Michael S., ed., The New Cognitive Neurosciences, pp. 1047–1061, at p. 1049.Google Scholar
42.Tooby, John and Cosmides, Leda, “The Psychological Foundations of Culture,” in Barkow, J., Cosmides, Leda, and Tooby, John, eds., The Adapted Mind (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), p. 99.Google Scholar
43.Damasio, Antonio, The Feeling of What Happens, pp. 37, 70.Google Scholar
44.Pederson, Paul Poder, “Review of J.M. Barbalet, Emotion, Social Theory and Social Structure—A Macro-Sociological Approach,” in Acta Sociologica, vol. 43, no. 3, 2000, pp. 281–84, at p. 282.Google Scholar
45.Ekman, Paul, “An Argument for Basic Emotions,” Cognition and Emotion, vol. 6, 1992, pp. 172–175; Plutchick, Robert, Emotion: A Psychoevolutionary Synthesis (New York: Harper & Row, 1980). See also, Goleman, David, Emotional Intelligence (New York: Bantam Books, 1995), p. 5.Google Scholar
46.Barkow, J., Cosmides, Leda, and Tooby, John, eds., The Adapted Mind.Google Scholar
47.Scheff, Thomas J., “Presidential Address: A Vision of Sociology,” Sociological Perspectives, vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 529–36.Google Scholar
48.Dollard, J., Doob, L., Miller, N., Mower, O., and Sears, R., Frustration and Aggression (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1939).Google Scholar
49.Diamond, Stephen A., Anger, Madness, and the Daimonic (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1996), p. 25.Google Scholar
50.Spielberger, C., Johnson, E., Russell, S., Crane, R., Jacobs, G., and Worden, T., “The Experience and Expression of Anger: Construction and Validation of an Anger Expression Scale,” in Chesney, M. A. and Rosenman, R. G., eds., Anger and Hostility in Cardiovascular and Behavioral Disorders (New York: Hemisphere, 1985), pp. 5–30, at p. 28.Google Scholar
51.Ibid;Sharkin, Bruce, “The Measurement and Treatment of Client Anger in Counseling,” Journal of Counseling and Development, vol. 66, April 1988, pp. 361–65 at p. 361.Google Scholar
52.Averill, J. R., Anger and Aggression: An Essay on Emotion (New York: Springer-Verlag, 1982).Google Scholar
53.SeeBerkowitz, Leonard, “Aggression, Psychology of,” Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict, vol. one (New York: Academy Press, 1999), pp. 35–45.Google Scholar
54.Kernis, Michael H., Grannemann, Bruce D., and Barklay, Lynda C., “Stability and Level of Self-Esteem as Predictors of Anger Arousal and Hostility,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 56, no. 6, 1989, pp. 1013–1022.Google Scholar
55.Long, William J. and Brecke, Peter, War and Reconciliation: Reason and Emotion in Conflict Resolution (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2003) pp. 136–38.Google Scholar
56.De Rivera, Joseph, “Emotional Climate: Social Structure and Emotional Dynamics,” in International Review of Studies on Emotion, vol. II, Strongman, K. T., ed. (New York: John Wiley, 1992), pp. 199–218.Google Scholar
57.Barbalet, J. M., Emotion, Social Theory and Social Structure—A Macro-Sociological Approach, pp. 159, 164.Google Scholar
58.Ibid., p. 160.Google Scholar
59.Ibid.Google Scholar
60.Harkavy, Robert E., “Defeat, National Humiliation, and the Revenge Motif in International Politics,” International Politics, vol. 37, no. 3, September 2000, pp. 345–68, at p. 345.Google Scholar
61.Thies, Cameron G., “Territorial Nationalism in Spatial Rivalries: An Institutional Account of the Argentine-Chilean Rivalry,” International Interactions, vol. 27, 2001, pp. 399–431, at p. 411; Vasquez, John, The War Puzzle.Google Scholar
62.Scheff, Thomas J. and Retzinger, Suzanne M., Emotions and Violence: Shame and Rage in Destructive Conflicts; Spielburger, C., Johnson, E., Russell, S., Crane, R., Jacobs, G., and Worden, T., “The Experience and Expression of Anger: Construction and Validation of an Anger Expression Scale,” p. 28.Google Scholar
63.Scheff, Thomas J. and Retzinger, Suzanne M., Emotions and Violence: Shame and Rage in Destructive Conflicts; Scheff, Thomas J., Bloody Revenge: Emotion, Nationalism and War.Google Scholar
64.Tangney, June Price, Wagner, Patricia, Fletcher, Carey, and Gramzow, Richard, “Shamed into Anger? The Relation of Shame and Guilt to Anger and Self-Reported Aggression,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 62, no. 4, 1992, pp. 669–75.Google Scholar
65.Lewis, H. B., Shame and Guilt in Neurosis (New York: International University Press, 1971).Google Scholar
66.Chafetz, Glen, Frankel, Benjamin, and Spirtas, Michael, “Tracing the Influence of Identity,” in Chafetz, Glen and Spirtas, Michael, eds., The Origins of National Interest, (London: Frank Cass, 1999), p. viii; Erikson, Erik, “The Problem of Ego Identity,” in Stein, Maurice R., Vidich, Arthur J., and White, David M., eds, Identity and Anxiety (Glencoe, IL: Free Press, 1960), p. 30.Google Scholar
67.Stuart Hall, “Who Needs Identity?,” in Hall, S. and du Gay, P., eds., Questions of Cultural Identity (London: Sage, 1996), p. 1–17.Google Scholar
68.Bloom, William, Personal Identity and International Relations (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), p. 53.Google Scholar
69.Bar-Tal, Daniel, “From Intractable Conflict Through Conflict Resolution: Psychological Analysis,” Political Psychology, vol. 21, no. 2, 2000, pp. 351–365; Lundwall, Karen, Psychological Aspects of Collective Violence and Reconciliation: A Survey of Current Research (Uppsala: Report of the Center for Multi-ethnic Research, 2001).Google Scholar
70.Lupia, Arthur, McCubbins, Mathew D., and Popkin, Samuel, eds., Elements of Reason, p. 131.Google Scholar
71.Scheff, Thomas J., “Shame and Conformity: The Deference Emotion System,” American Sociological Review, vol. 53, 1988, pp. 395–406, at p. 398.Google Scholar
72.Scheff, Thomas J., “Shame and Conformity,” p. 399; Tompkins, Silvan, Affect, Imagery, Consciousness, vol. II, The Negative Affects (New York: Springer Publications, 1963), p. 56.Google Scholar
73.SeeAverill, J. R., Anger and Aggression: An Essay on Emotion.Google Scholar
74.Volkan, Vamik, The Need to Have Enemies and Allies: From Clinical Practice to International Relationships (Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1988).Google Scholar
75.Goffman, E., Interaction Ritual (New York: Anchor, 1967).Google Scholar
76.Scheff, and Retzinger, , p. 36.Google Scholar
77.Wolfers, Arnold, Discord and Collaboration (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1962).Google Scholar
78.Maoz, Zeez and Russett, Bruce, “Normative and Structural Causes of Democratic Peace, 1946–1986,” American Political Science Review, vol. 87, 1993, pp. 624–38; Geller, Daniel S. and Singer, J. David, Nations at War (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998).Google Scholar
79.Stinnett, and Diehl, .Google Scholar
80.Howard, Michael, “The Causes of War,” in Turbulent Peace, p. 33.Google Scholar
81.Ibid., pp. 33–35Google Scholar
82.Blanchard, Caroline D. and Blanchard, Robert J., “Emotions as Mediators and Modulators of Violence: Some Reflections on the Seville Statement on Violence,” Social Research, vol. 67, no. 3, Fall 2000.Google Scholar
83.Blanchard, Caroline D. and Blanchard, Robert J., “Emotions as Mediators and Modulators of Violence: Some Reflections on the Seville Statement on Violence,” p. 7.Google Scholar
84.SeePederson, Paul Poder, “Review of J. M. Barbalet, Emotion, Social Theory and Social Structure—A Macro-Sociological Approach,” p. 282; Hebb, D.O., “On the Nature of Fear,(??) Psychological Review, vol. 53, no. 5, pp. 259–76.Google Scholar
85.Damasio, Antonio, Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Peeling Brain (New York: Harcourt, Inc. 2003), p. 146.Google Scholar
86.Lawler, Edward J. and Thye, Shane R., “Bringing Emotion into Social Exchange Theory,” Annual Review of Sociology, vol. 25, 1999, pp. 217–244.Google Scholar
87.Barbalet, J. M., Emotion, Social Theory and Social Structure—A Macro-Sociological Approach, p. 155.Google Scholar
88.Ibid., p. 164.Google Scholar
89.Ibid.Google Scholar
90.Flam, Helena, “Fear, Loyalty, and Greedy Organizations,” in Emotions in Organizations, Fineman, Stephen, ed. (London: Sage, 1993), pp. 58–75, at p. 59.Google Scholar
91.Wilson, William Raft, “Feeling More Than We Can Know: Exposure Effects Without Learning,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 37, no. 6, 1979, pp. 811–21.Google Scholar
92.Power data, Correlates of War II, Index of National Capabilities, Version 3.0.Google Scholar
93.Bennett, Scott, enduring rivalries data set, http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/d/s/dsb10/data.html; Goertz, and Diehl, , enduring rivalries data set, http://www.pol.uiuc.edu/faculty/Diehl/diehl3lnk.htm; Colaresi and Thompson, strategic rivalries data set, 2001.Google Scholar