Why do some countries choose to end wars short of total victory while others fight on, sometimes in the face of appalling odds? How Wars End argues that two central factors shape war-termination decision making: information about the balance of power and the resolve of one's enemy, and fears that the other side's commitment to abide by a war-ending peace settlement may not be credible. Dan Reiter explains how information about combat outcomes and other factors may persuade a warring nation to demand more or less in peace negotiations, and why a country might refuse to negotiate limited terms and instead tenaciously pursue absolute victory if it fears that its enemy might renege on a peace deal. He fully lays out the theory and then tests it on more than twenty cases of war-termination behavior, including decisions during the American Civil War, the two world wars, and the Korean War.
Reiter helps solve some of the most enduring puzzles in military history, such as why Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, why Germany in 1918 renewed its attack in the West after securing peace with Russia in the East, and why Britain refused to seek peace terms with Germany after France fell in 1940. How Wars End concludes with a timely discussion of twentieth-century American foreign policy, framing the Bush Doctrine's emphasis on preventive war in the context of the theory.
By:
Dan Reiter
Imprint: Princeton University Pres
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 235mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 23mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9780691140605
ISBN 10: 069114060X
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 06 September 2009
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
List of Illustrations and Tables xi Acknowledgments xiii CHAPTER ONE: Ending Wars 1 CHAPTER TWO: Bargaining, Information, and Ending Wars 8 CHAPTER THREE: Credible Commitments and War Termination 22 CHAPTER FOUR: Conducting Empirical Tests 51 CHAPTER FIVE: The Korean War 63 CHAPTER SIX: The Allies, 1940-42 92 CHAPTER SEVEN: The Logic of War 121 Finland and the USSR, 1939-44 CHAPTER EIGHT: The American Civil War 140 CHAPTER NINE: Germany, 1917-18 165 CHAPTER TEN: Japan, 1944-45 186 CHAPTER ELEVEN: Conclusions 211 Notes 231 Bibliography 267 Index 289
Dan Reiter is professor and chair of political science at Emory University. He is the author of Crucible of Beliefs: Learning, Alliances, and World Wars and the coauthor of Democracies at War (Princeton).
Reviews for How Wars End
Winner of the 2010 Best Book Award, Conflict Processes Section of the American Political Science Association Shortlisted for the 2010 Arthur Ross Book Award, Council on Foreign Relations Honorable Mention for the 2010 International Security Studies Section (ISSS) Book Award, International Studies Association One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2010 Many social scientists have studied how wars start, but fewer have looked into how wars end... The work belongs in most college and university libraries. --Choice
- Commended for Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Book Award 2010
- Commended for Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Book Award 2010.
- Commended for International Security Studies Section (ISSS) Book Award, International Studies Association 2010
- Runner-up for Choice Magazine Outstanding Reference/Academic Book Award 2010
- Runner-up for Choice Magazine Outstanding Reference/Academic Book Award 2010.
- Short-listed for Arthur Ross Book Award, Council on Foreign Relations 2010 (United States)
- Short-listed for CHOICE Magazine's Outstanding Academic Titles 2010 (United States)
- Shortlisted for Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Book Award 2010.
- Winner of American Political Science Association Conflict Processes Section Best Book Award 2010.
