Why We Don't Fight: A Review Article

Wars are the exception, not the rule, as Christopher Blattman, a political scientist and development economist from the University of Chicago, reveals in his new book, Why We Fight: The Roots of War and the Paths to Peace. Blattman makes the case that both strategic and psychological factors explain most outbreaks of violence, whether they are gangland beefs over urban turf, asymmetric counterinsurgencies, or conventional wars like the current conflict in Ukraine. The book is a helpful compendium for scholars of international relations and comparative politics on the causes of conflict, drawing on lessons from game theory and the rational choice school to explain why nations and nonstate actors fight. Much of the analysis is drawn from Blattman's own distinguished career as a development economist in Africa, and he helpfully intersperses the prose with first-person vignettes from some of the world's most dangerous conflict zones, including Liberia, Uganda, Colombia, and inner-city Chicago.