The War Trap

by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita

Book Overview

The purpose in this book is to present a general theory of war and foreign conflict initiation and escalation, including both the logic of the theory and a broadly based analytic test of the theory's most critical deductions.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300025580
• ISBN13: 9780300025583
• Release Date: September 1981
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 223 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.8" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Source of Information

This book was very clear and concise in explaining wars and their causes as well as what society can do to rectify the problems. it is both leizurely reading as well as educational. highly recommended.

Excellent Basic theory of Social Computation. Prolix writing

The author develops a quantitative theory of "Marginal Utility" in nations' leaders choosing to go to war. Then the author applies the reserach of others to provide examples, and makes the case that "Marginal Utility" correllates quite well with "confilct initiation decisions." Well thought out and well researched, but the author's stilted language and prolix writing make reading a chore. As with all truely new science, the author is unsure of the most appropriate mathematical constants (Natural log or base 10 log). In the final chapters the author writes to the change in warfare from interstate to intrastate. This shows amazing insight given that this was published almost 20 years ago.