Resort to War: 1816 - 2007 (Correlates of War) - Hardcover

Sarkees, Meredith Reid; Wayman, Frank

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0872894347 ISBN 13: 9780872894341

Publisher: CQ Press, 2010

Synopsis

The benchmark reference for understanding the phenomenon of war

What do we know about war?  This much-anticipated reference book analyzes more than a thousand wars waged from 1816 to 2008 using authoritative, highly standardized, and systematic coding methods from the Correlates of War Project, which aims to reveal the underlying patterns and causes of war. Resort to War lists and categorizes all violent conflicts with 1,000 or more battle deaths and provides an insightful narrative for each struggle. The volume distinguishes between traditional interstate war, the phenomenon of extra-state war as evidenced by the Al-Qaeda– USA conflagration, intra-state war, and the new category of nonstate ethnic wars. After explaining how to determine what a "state" is and how to classify different types of wars, the authors describe each encounter and highlight major patterns across eras and regions, identifying which categories of war are becoming more or less prevalent over time, and revealing connections between the different types of war. Resort to War, the second title in the Correlates of War Series, is a definitive source for students and researchers examining patterns of international conflict; it is the essential guide to the data, trends, and context of these violent encounters.

Key Features

• A unique study of the patterns of war
• Highlights different patterns of interstate, intra-state, and extra-state conflicts
• Authoritative data, newly discovered trends, insightful narrative

About this title

About the Authors

Meredith Reid Sarkees is a long-time affiliate of the Correlates of War (COW) Project, having worked with COW founder J. David Singer for many years. She has served as host or co-host of the datasets on inter-state, extra-state, intra-state, and non-state wars for over twenty years and has published a number of articles about the trends in warfare. A handbook on all of the COW wars, Resort to War 1816–2007, was written by Sarkees and Frank Whelon Wayman. Sarkees also co-edited Advancing Peace Research: Leaving Traces, Selected Articles by J. David Singer with Jody Lear and Diane Macaulay as a testament to the significance of the COW project and Singer’s work. Sarkees’s other research area focuses upon women’s leadership and the status of women in both academia and the realm of international relations. She co-authored with Nancy E. McGlen a groundbreaking study of the women serving in American foreign policy institutions, Women in Foreign Policy. Sarkees currently serves as president of Global Women’s Leadership in International Security (GWLIS).

Frank Wayman is professor of political science at the University of Michigan – Dearborn, president of the Faculty Research Club at the University of Michigan, and a long-time associate of the Correlates of War Project.

Reviews

This third war-data handbook of the Correlates of War Project (Wages of War, 1972; Resort to Arms, 1982) both updates the project as well as examines some recently discovered conflicts since the Napoleonic Wars. The primary purpose of the project has been to provide students and scholars alike with a level of deep context, categorized for the systematic study of war in an effort to “both understand the nature of war and determine whether it has been increasing or decreasing.” The present handbook focuses on the changing nature of war previously dominated by traditional “inter-state” types to “intra-state” (civil wars); “extra-state” conflicts, driven by ethnicity, terrorism, and a lack of combatant-civilian separation; and the more amorphous “non-state” wars. Following a brief introduction, chapter 1 explores the theory, methodology, and terminology of the interstate and international system, while chapter 2 is devoted to defining and categorizing wars by examining the distinguishing characteristics of each type of conflict. The bulk of the work is four chapters (one for each type of war) of chronologically arranged entries. Each entry begins with pertinent data (participants, dates, deaths, location, outcome, and type) followed by a brief narrative, concluded by coding and sources. By considering philosophical critiques and the evolving nature of war in the modern world, chapter 7 uses the compiled data to answer the question, “What do we know about war?” Concluding matter consists of a chronological list of wars 1816–2007 as well as an extensive select bibliography. Monumental in its treatment and exhaustive in its scope, Resort to War is certainly a remarkable achievement. Numerous charts, graphs, and lists organize the wealth of statistical data and present the information in a usable form for the intended audience. Such a high level of detail combined with keen scholarly analysis make this a must-have for academic collections concerned with war in the modern world. --Brian Odom

Edition details

• Publisher: CQ Press
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0872894347
• ISBN 13: 9780872894341
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 577