Geoffrey Blainey's The Causes of War is a classic study of why wars happen and why peace fails to endure. In this third edition, Blainey examines the historical patterns of international conflict, highlighting the factors of perception, miscalculation, balance of power, and national interests that often trigger war. The book also examines the relationship between optimism and the political deci…
The Cold War has been followed by a decade of regional and ethnic conflicts, massacres, and forced exiles. Should America assume the role of peacekeeper and chief humanitarian in a world of endless wars and human disasters? Eminent foreign correspondent William Shawcross has spent much of his career in war zones and has had unrivaled access to diplomats, peacekeepers, and global policymakers at…
In this wide-ranging analysis of global politics over the past five centuries, Yale historian Paul Kennedy focuses on the critical relationship of economic to military power as it affects the rise and fall of empires.