The State, War, and the State of War

Jul 6, 2026

Upload by Violet

The State, War, and the State of War examines the historical shift from declining interstate wars since 1945 to rising internal wars, arguing that conventional international-relations analytical tools must be revised. The book focuses on “weak” states—those unable to sustain domestic legitimacy and peace—surveying foundations of state legitimacy and explaining why weak states become future theaters of war. It also evaluates what the United Nations can do regarding weak and failed states.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages272

Reading Time11 h 25 min

Thinking about war in international politics

Theoretical analysis of war

Theoretical solutions to war

Relevance of old concepts to new environments

Wars of the third kind

Institutionalized war

The descent to total war

From total war to wars of the third kind

CnmbridSenudiinS InternationalRelationsThe State,War;and theState of WarKalevi J.Holsti War has traditionally been studied as a problem deriving from therelations between states.Strategic doctrines,arms control agreements,and the foundations of international organizations such as the UnitedNations,are designed to prevent wars between states.Since 1945,however,the incidence of interstate war has actually been decliningrapidly,while the incidence of internal wars has been increasing.Theauthor argues that in order to understand this significant change inhistorical patterns,we should jettison many of the analytical devicesderived from international relations studies and shift attention to theproblems of“weak”states:those states unable to sustain domesticlegitimacy and peace.This book surveys some of the foundations ofstate legitimacy and demonstrates why many weak states will be thelocales of war in the future.Finally,the author asks what the UnitedNations can do about the problems of weak and failed states. CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS:51 # The state,war,and the state of war Editorial Board Steve Smith(Managing editor) Christopher Brown Robert W.Cox Anne Deighton Rosemary Foot Joseph Grieco Fred Halliday Margot LightAndrew Linklater Richard Little R.B.J.Walker International Political Economy Roger Tooze Craig N.Murphy Cambridge Studies in International Relations is a joint initiative of Cam-bridge University Press and the British International Studies Associa-tion(BISA).The series will include a wide range of material,fromundergraduate textbooks and surveys to research-based monographsand collaborative volumes.The aim of the series is to publish the bestnew scholarship in International Studies from Europe,North Americaand the rest of the world. CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 51 Kalevi J.HolstiThe state,warand the state of war 50 Christopher Clapham Africa and the international systemThe politics of state survival 49 Susan Strange The retreat of the stateThe diffusion of power 48 William I.RobinsonPromoting polyarchyGlobalization,US intervention,and hegemony 47 Roger SpegelePolitical realism in international theory 46 Thomas J.Biersteker and Cynthia Weber(eds.)State sovereignty as social construct 45 Mervyn Frost Ethics in international relationsA constitutive theory 44 Mark W.Zacher with Brent A.SuttonGoverning global networksInternational regimes for transportation and communications 43 Mark NeufeldThe restructuring of international relations theory 42 Thomas Risse-Kappen(ed.) Bringing transnational relations back in Non-state actors,domestic structures and internationalinstitutions 41 Hayward R.Alker Rediscoveries and reformulationsHumanistic methodologies for international studies 40 Robert W.Cox with TimothyJ.SinclairApproaches to world order Series list continues after index # The state,war,and the state of war K.J.Holsti Department of Political ScienceUniversity of British Columbia PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGEThe Pitt Building,Trumpington Street,Cambridge,United Kingdom CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS The Edinburgh Building,Cambridge CB22RU,UK40 West 20th Street,New York,NY10011-4211,USA 477 Williamstown Road,Port Melbourne,VIC 3207,AustraliaRuiz de Alarcón 13,28014 Madrid,SpainDock House,The Waterfront,Cape Town 8001,South Africa http://www.cambridge.org ◎ Kalevi J.Holsti I996 This book is in copyright.Subject to statutory exceptionand to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,no reproduction of any part may take place withoutthe written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 1996Reprinted 1997,1998,1999,2001,2004 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication dataHolstiK.J.(Kalevi Jaakko),1935- The state,war,and the state of war/by K.J.Holsti. p.cm.-(Cambridge studie

FAQs

What does the book conclude about the future locations of war?

Many weak states are presented as likely locales of war in the future, based on how state legitimacy develops and erodes.

Jul 6, 2026

Upload by Violet