Abstract
The bargaining theory of war and peace has emerged as an important research framework in the social sciences for understanding why wars occur and why opportunities for peace sometimes fail. Close to a dozen distinct “rationalist” sources of war have been theoretically modeled in the bargaining literature, empirical studies of war and peace are increasingly drawing upon bargaining models for theoretical guidance, and “nonrationalist” sources of war based on insights from psychology and sociology can be incorporated into the theory. This article briefly surveys key elements and results of the bargaining theory of war and it emphasizes the untapped potential for the framework to serve as a theory of peace in both research and teaching.
Highlights
Peace economics and the rationality of war Walter Isard is considered by many, including myself, as the founder of peace science, a multidisciplinary approach to studying violent conflicts and how they can be managed or resolved nonviolently
I have heard on occasion, even at peace economics conference sessions, an argument for the irrationality of war that goes as follows: Whatever outcome the combatants arrive at once the war is over, they could have arrived at that outcome without the war and without all of the costs of war
Bargaining theory is like an intellectual X-ray; it reveals eight rationalist and two nonrationalist sources of violent conflict
Summary
Peace economics and the rationality of war Walter Isard is considered by many, including myself, as the founder of peace science, a multidisciplinary approach to studying violent conflicts and how they can be managed or resolved nonviolently. Proposition 2: Peaceful resolution offers potential mutual gains to the would-be combatants in the avoidance of the costs of war. It includes the costs of war and the potential mutual gains from peace.
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