Why Nations Fight

Four generic motives have historically led states to initiate war: fear, interest, standing, and revenge. Using an original data set, Richard Ned Lebow examines the distribution of wars across three and a half centuries and argues that, contrary to conventional wisdom, only a minority of these were motivated by security or material interest. Instead, the majority are the result...

Four generic motives have historically led states to initiate war: fear, interest, standing, and revenge. Using an original data set, Richard Ned Lebow examines the distribution of wars across three and a half centuries and argues that, contrary to conventional wisdom, only a minority of these were motivated by security or material interest. Instead, the majority are the result of a quest for standing, and for revenge - an attempt to get even with states who had previously made successful territorial grabs. Lebow maintains that today none of these motives are effectively served by war - it is increasingly counterproductive - and that there is growing recognition of this political reality. His analysis allows for more fine-grained and persuasive forecasts about the future of war as well as highlighting areas of uncertainty.

理查德·内德·勒博，达特茅斯学院的詹姆斯·弗里德曼讲座教授，以及伦敦政治经济学院的世纪教授。他有多部著作，其中《国际关系的文化理论》（剑桥大学出版社2008年）获得了美国政治学会以杰维斯和施罗德命名的最佳国际历史和政治学图书奖，并被英国国际关系学会授予苏珊·斯特兰奇年度最佳图书奖，《政治的悲剧视角》（剑桥大学出版社2003年）获得2005年度亚历山大·乔治政治心理与国际社会图奖。