War: (Critical Concepts in Political Science)

Contrary to the optimistic predictions at the turn of the last century about ‘the demise of major war’, the War on Terror, major civil wars in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere, and the continuing conflict in the Middle East suggest that the study of warfare has never been so urgent. War stubbornly remains the ulimate arbiter of international disputes and continues to be a prominent feature of contemporary life: over one hundred states currently have forces overseas in one form of operation or another, and the United States, Britain, and France collectively have over 200,000 soldiers deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Cote d’Ivoire, Bosnia, Kosovo, Chad, Burundi, Sierra Leone, and Haiti. (In 2006 alone, the UN Security Council passed nearly fifty resolutions relating to armed conflicts around the world.) But those interested in understanding why, how, and with what effect wars are fought are confronted by a bewildering range of theories, narratives, and cases, and a burgeoning amount of scholarly research. The sheer scale and diversity of war scholarship makes this new Routledge Major Work especially timely and welcome. It answers the need for a wide-ranging collection to make sense of the great variety of perspectives and approaches from which social scientists and other thinkers have understood, and continue to understand, war. The collection is organized into four volumes. Volume I (‘Nature of War’) explores the nature of war and addresses fundamental questions such as: what is war? And, what marks it out from other forms of violence? Volume I also contains material about the different types of war, the incidence of war, the causes of war, and how wars end. Volume II (‘History of War’) collects material on the historical development of war in different eras. The selected materials have been carefully chosen from across history to shed light on a common set of issues and to permit comparison across different eras. Volume III (‘Strategies of War’) focuses specifically on military strategy. The material collected here includes the main ideas of the most important strategic thinkers in history, together with learned commentaries on them. Key research on contemporary and future strategy is also included. Finally, Volume IV (‘Ethics and Laws of War’) brings together the best and most influential scholarship in four sections: ‘Contending Ethical Traditions’, ‘Recourse to Force’, ‘Conduct of War’, and ‘Justice after War’. With a full index, together with introductory material, newly written by the editor, which places the collected material in its historical and intellectual context, War is an essential work of reference. It is destined to be valued by scholars, students, and practitioners of war and defence studies—as well as those working in allied disciplines such as security studies, international relations, politics, international law, and history—as a vital research resource.

Table of Contents:
Volume I: Nature of War 1. What is War? War as Politics War as Strategic Puzzle War as Legal Process War as Economic Practice War as General Condition 2. Types of War On Typologies of War Total War Limited War Guerrilla War ‘New’ War 3. Incidence of War Prior to 1945 Post-1945 4. Causes of War Human Biology Politics Structure of the International System Economics 5. How Wars End Overview Interstate Wars Civil Wars Volume II: History of War 6. Ancient War Greece Rome Japan 7. Medieval War Land Battles Muslim Warfare 8. Renaissance War General Overview Military Innovation 9. Modern War General Overview Military Innovation 10. Contemporary War The Idea of ‘Postmodern’ War The ‘Revolution in Military Affairs’ Volume III: Strategies of War 11. Strategic Thinkers Sun Tzu Clausewitz Liddell Hart Schelling Mao Tse-Tung 12. War on Land Land Warfare Urban Warfare 13. War in the Air Theories of Air Warfare Air Warfare in Recent Practice War in Space 14. War at Sea Theories of Maritime Warfare Practice of Maritime Warfare Amphibious Warfare 15. Nuclear Warfare Theories of Nuclear Warfare Nuclear Practice 16. The Transformation of Warfare The Asymmetric Response Volume IV: Ethics and Laws of War 17. Contending Ethical Traditions Realism Just War Islam Hebrew Hindu Confucian Japanese Communist 18. Recourse to Force Moral Principles Law Key Issues I: Self-Defence and Pre-Emption Key Issues II: Humanitarian Intervention 19. Conduct of War Moral and Legal Principles Non-Combatant Immunity Key Issues I: Supreme Emergencies Key Issues II: Civilian Protection 20. Justice after War

About the Author :
School of Political Science and International Studies, University of Queensland, Australia