Can War be Eliminated?

Can War be Eliminated?
Author: Christopher Coker
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 93
Release: 2014-01-14
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0745682073

Throughout history, war seems to have had an iron grip on humanity. In this short book, internationally renowned philosopher of war, Christopher Coker, challenges the view that war is an idea that we can cash in for an even better one - peace. War, he argues, is central to the human condition; it is part of the evolutionary inheritance which has allowed us to survive and thrive. New technologies and new geopolitical battles may transform the face and purpose of war in the 21st century, but our capacity for war remains undiminished. The inconvenient truth is that we will not see the end of war until it exhausts its own evolutionary possibilities.

Future War

Future War
Author: Christopher Coker
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 168
Release: 2015-11-12
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1509502351

Will tomorrow's wars be dominated by autonomous drones, land robots and warriors wired into a cybernetic network which can read their thoughts? Will war be fought with greater or lesser humanity? Will it be played out in cyberspace and further afield in Low Earth Orbit? Or will it be fought more intensely still in the sprawling cities of the developing world, the grim black holes of social exclusion on our increasingly unequal planet? Will the Great Powers reinvent conflict between themselves or is war destined to become much 'smaller' both in terms of its actors and the beliefs for which they will be willing to kill? In this illuminating new book Christopher Coker takes us on an incredible journey into the future of warfare. Focusing on contemporary trends that are changing the nature and dynamics of armed conflict, he shows how conflict will continue to evolve in ways that are unlikely to render our century any less bloody than the last. With insights from philosophy, cutting-edge scientific research and popular culture, Future War is a compelling and thought-provoking meditation on the shape of war to come.

Imperial Hubris

Imperial Hubris
Author: Michael Scheuer
Publisher: Potomac Books, Inc.
Total Pages: 382
Release: 2004-06-30
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1597973084

Though U.S. leaders try to convince the world of their success in fighting al Qaeda, one anonymous member of the U.S. intelligence community would like to inform the public that we are, in fact, losing the war on terror. Further, until U.S. leaders recognize the errant path they have irresponsibly chosen, he says, our enemies will only grow stronger. According to the author, the greatest danger for Americans confronting the Islamist threat is to believe-at the urging of U.S. leaders-that Muslims attack us for what we are and what we think rather than for what we do. Blustering political rhetor.

Why War?

Why War?
Author: Christopher Coker
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 198
Release: 2021-12-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0197644228

What are humanity's biological origins? What are the mechanisms, including culture, that continue to drive it? What is the history that has allowed it to evolve over time? And what are its functions--how does it survive and thrive by exploiting the features that define it as a species? These are the four questions of the Tinbergen Method for explaining animal behavior, developed by the Nobel Prizewinning Dutch ethologist Niko Tinbergen. This book contends that applying this method to war--which is unique to humans--can help us better understand why conflict is so resilient. Christopher Coker explores these four questions of our past and present, and looks at our post-human future, assessing how far scientific advances in gene-editing, robotics and AI systems will de-center human agency. He concludes that we won't witness war's end until it has exhausted its evolutionary possibilities--meaning that, well into the future, war is likely to remain what Thucydides first called it: 'the human thing'. From the Ancients to Artificial Intelligence, Why War? is an exhilarating tour d'horizon of humankind's propensity to warfare and its behavioral underpinnings, offering new ways of thinking about our species' unique and deadly preoccupation.

War and Anti-war

War and Anti-war
Author: Alvin Toffler
Publisher: Grand Central Pub
Total Pages: 370
Release: 1995-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780446602594

Citing the millions of lives that have been lost during Cold War conflict, a study predicts where and how future wars will be fought and present a paradigm for peace through technology, communication, and human innovation. Reprint.

Modern Warfare

Modern Warfare
Author: Roger Trinquier
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
Total Pages: 131
Release: 1964
Genre: France
ISBN: 142891689X

How Wars End

How Wars End
Author: Dan Reiter
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2009-09-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 069114060X

"Dan Reiter explains how information about combat outcomes and other factors may persuade a warring nation to demand more or less in peace negotiations, and why a country might refuse to negotiate limited terms and instead tenaciously pursue absolute victory if it fears that its enemy might renege on a peace deal. He fully lays out the theory and then tests it on more than twenty cases of war-termination behavior, including decisions during the American Civil War, the two world wars, and the Korean War. Reiter helps solve some of the most enduring puzzles in military history, such as why Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, why Germany in 1918 renewed its attack in the West after securing peace with Russia in the East, and why Britain refused to seek peace terms with Germany after France fell in 1940.".

War Crimes

War Crimes
Author: Matthew Talbert
Publisher:
Total Pages: 185
Release: 2019
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 019067587X

Why do war crimes occur? Are perpetrators of war crimes always blameworthy? In an original and challenging thesis, this book argues that war crimes are often explained by perpetrators' beliefs, goals, and values, and in these cases perpetrators may be blameworthy even if they sincerely believed that they were doing the right thing.

The Better Angels of Our Nature

The Better Angels of Our Nature
Author: Steven Pinker
Publisher: Penguin Books
Total Pages: 834
Release: 2012-09-25
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0143122010

Faced with the ceaseless stream of news about war, crime, and terrorism, one could easily think this is the most violent age ever seen. Yet as bestselling author Pinker shows in this startling and engaging new work, just the opposite is true.