GO131:

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GO131 International Relations Professor Walter
Hatch Colby College War and Peace
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Pearl Harbor, 1941
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Korea, 1950
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Vietnam/ Tet Offensive, 1968
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Iran, 1980s
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Falklands, 1982
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Rwanda, 1994
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Chechnya, 1999
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World Trade Center, 2001
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Afghanistan, 2001
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Iraq, 2003
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Two Questions

• 1. Is war inevitable?
• 2. Why do wars come about?

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1. Is war inevitable?(i.e. a necessary evil?)
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Classical Liberals say

• No
• Perpetual Peace is possible

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Neo-Liberals say

• No
• Its a small world after all

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Constructivists Say

• It depends
• on norms

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Realists say

• Yes
• The system is unstable

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Longtime Pessimists

• Sun Tzu
• The Art of War
• Thucydides
• The strong do what they can, and the weak suffer
  what they want.
• Carl Von Clausewitz
• The continuation of politics by other means

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Evidence

• Good news! No war between great powers over the
  past half century.
• Bad news conflict continues
• Proxy wars during Cold War
• Regional conflict
• Ethnic conflict
• Civilian casualties

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2. Why do wars come about?
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The Realist Answer

• Structure of the international system
• Anarchy (self-help)
• Great powers will balance against one another
• Smaller powers will bandwagon
• Security dilemma

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The Liberal Answer

• Classical Liberals
• Authoritarian states are unrestrained
• Liberal states arent sufficiently cosmopolitan
• Neo-liberals
• Institutions are not in place to defuse conflict

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Democratic Peace
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Exceptions?
War of 1812
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Fashoda Incident