Crisis and War

Download or read book Crisis and War written by Patrick James and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 1988 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using an analysis of patterns of international crisis and war from 1948 to 1975, Patrick James suggests why some international crises result in war while others do not. Over one hundred cases are used to assess the three most prominent explanations for crisis escalation to war: (1) war is the result of rational choice by leaders who expect to gain from it; (2) war is the product of the outward projection of political unrest within states; and (3) war is the result of classical balance of power politics. James concludes that the best explanations for war include elements from all three categories.