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What Is War For?

By Jack McDonald
Series: What Is It For?
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
What Is War For? explores the role of armed conflict in shaping global politics, examining how changes in international law and technology alter the way states justify and conduct war. It analyses war’s impact on international relations and daily life, contrasting two views: the elimination of war versus its management as a permanent challenge, advocating the latter as a step toward the former.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$2199
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for students and readers interested in politics, international relations, and contemporary conflict studies seeking a clear and thought-provoking examination of war’s function in today’s world.

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This book examines how changes to social rules reshape how states explain their military actions, and changes to technology and society transform contemporary warfare. Analysing the role that war serves in global politics, it outlines the ways in which war affects the contemporary world, from international relations to our day-to-day lives.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

How does armed conflict shape global politics?

When states wage war on their neighbours while denying its existence, what chance do we have to regulate it, and how will we ever achieve a more peaceful world?

What Is War For? examines how changes to social rules, such as interpretations of international law, reshape how states explain their military actions. It also explores how changes to technology and society transform the activities that constitute contemporary warfare.

The book analyses the role that war serves in global politics, outlining the multiple ways that war affects the contemporary world, from international relations to our day-to-day lives.

Focusing on two competing visions of war—that war can and should be eliminated, and that war is a permanent problem to be managed—it takes the second path as a necessary step towards the first, in the perhaps vain hope that it is ever achievable.

Series: What Is It For?

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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Praised by experts such as Christopher Coker (LSE IDEAS) for its compelling insights on war's enduring nature, and Daniel Brunstetter (University of California Irvine) for timely analysis, this book serves as a lucid introduction to modern warfare. Beatrice Heuser (University of Glasgow) highlights its discussion on the law of armed conflict, while Lawrence Freedman (King's College London) calls it a sharp guide to understanding who fights, why, and how war might be stopped or mitigated.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781529228380

Publisher: Bristol University Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 28 March 2023

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Bristol University Press

Illustration: Not illustrated

Audience: General / adult, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Width: 127.0mm

Height: 203.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 172

Collections

Education & Reference Jack McDonald Non-Fiction Politics & Current Affairs Series: What Is It For?

About the Author

Jack McDonald is a Senior Lecturer in War Studies at the Department of War Studies, King's College London. He is the author of two books examining the relationship between the law and ethics of war, and emerging technology.

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