Confronting War

Table of Contents

   List of Illustrations, Maps, and Charts   x
   <Preface   1

Part One. INTRODUCTION TO THE WAR PROBLEM
1. The Nature of the War Problem   3
   The Importance of the War Problem   4
   The Four Aspects of the War Problem   5
2. The Conceptual Framework   10
   The Meaning of the Term "War"   10
   An Alternative to War?   15
   The Meaning of the Term “Peace”   18
   The Meaning of the Term “Justice”   20
   The “Just War” Concept   23
   Further Reflections on Peace and Justice   26
3. The Historical Framework   30
   The History of Warfare Between Sovereign States   30
   Wars Since 1946   35
   The Changing Nature of War   47
   The Present Urgency of the War Problem   53

PART TWO: CAUSES OF WAR
4. The Cause of War: General Considerations   57
   Investigating the Cause of War   57
   Individual Human Aggression   60
   Individual Aggression and War   65
5. Group Competition and Group Identification   68
   Arenas of Group Competition   68
   Group Identification and Nationalism   75
   Nationalism as a Cause of War   79
6. Other Views About Causes of War   84
   Arms Races as a Cause of War   84
   Military Planning as a Cause of War   86
   Particular Villains as a Cause of War   87
   War as an Effort to Suppress Internal Dissension   93
   War as an Effort to Eliminate Injustice   94
   The Absence of Peaceful Alternatives as a Cause of War   95
7. The Value of War   97
   The Biological Value of War   97
   The Technological Value of War   98
   The Economic Value of War   99
   The Psychological Value of War   101
   The Social Value of War   102
   The Moral Value of War   103
   Will War Be Missed?   104

PART THREE: THE CONTEMPORARY SITUATION
8. Ideological Aspects of the Contemporary Situation   106
   Some Basic Distinctions   106
   Capitalistic Democracy   112
   Communism (Marx, Lenin, and Mao)   117
   Fascism (National Socialism)   123
   The “End of History” Thesis   125
   Religion and War