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Peace and Conflict Studies
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Peace and Conflict Studies

Fourth Edition


December 2016 | 712 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
The thoroughly updated Fourth Edition of the gold standard text explores historical and current topics in today’s rapidly changing world to provide a comprehensive introduction to peace and conflict studies. The authors offer an insightful analysis of 21st-century global affairs, including such timely topics as ISIS, the nature of violence and nonviolence, cutting-edge military technologies, the Terrorism and Global Peace Indexes, and the latest developments in Iran, North Korea, and Syria. Comprehensive yet written in a student-friendly and accessible style, the text represents a commitment to inspire readers to create a better world through an understanding of what has happened and what is happening, and therefore what is likely to take place in the future.

Read Dr. Barash’s article on Psychology Today on why nuclear threats by the U.S. Government are never a successful defense tactic.
 
Part I: The Promise of Peace, the Problems of War
 
Chapter 1: The Meanings of Peace
The Meanings of Peace

 
Positive and Negative Peace

 
Measuring Peace

 
The Global Peace Index

 
Key Findings of the U.S. Peace Index

 
Culture of Peace

 
A Final Note on the Meanings of Peace

 
Notes

 
Questions for Further Reflection

 
Suggestions for Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 2: Peace Studies, Peace Education, and Peace Research
Peace Studies, War Studies, and Peace and Conflict Studies

 
Peace Education

 
The Dimensions of Peace and Conflict Studies

 
PCS Today

 
Some Contributions of PCS

 
The Future of PCS

 
A Final Note on Peace and Conflict Studies, Peace Education, and Peace Research

 
Notes

 
Questions for Further Reflection

 
Suggestions for Further Reading

 
Journals

 
Websites

 
 
Chapter 3: The Meanings of Wars
Defining Wars

 
The Frequency and Intensity of Wars

 
Historical Trends in War

 
Modern Weaponry

 
Cutting-Edge Military Technologies

 
Has Technology Made War Obsolete?

 
Wars, Empires, Colonialism, and National Liberation

 
The Desirability of Peace Versus Justifications for Wars

 
Social Justice and War

 
Political Ideologies and Militarism

 
Is War Inevitable?

 
Can Nations Change?

 
The Nature and Functions of Conflict

 
A Final Note on War

 
Notes

 
Questions for Further Reflection

 
Suggestions for Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 4: Terrorism Versus Counterterrorism
What Is Terrorism? Who Are “Terrorists”?

 
A Brief History of Terrorism

 
The Historical Tension Between State Terrorism From Above and Nonstate Terrorism From Below

 
ISIS

 
State and State-Sponsored Terrorism

 
Terrorism in the Name of God

 
The Terrorism Industry and the Mass Media

 
The Global War on Terrorism

 
The Victims and Perpetrators of Global Terrorism and Counterterrorism

 
A Final Note on Terrorism

 
Notes

 
Questions for Further Reflection

 
Suggestions for Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 5: The Special Significance of Nuclear Weapons
The Nature of Nuclear Weapons

 
The Effects of Nuclear Weapons

 
Nuclear Delivery Systems

 
Strategic Doctrine: Deterrence

 
How a Nuclear War Could Start

 
Nuclear Proliferation

 
Some New Worries

 
Some Good News

 
What Might Be Done

 
A Final Note on Nuclear Weapons

 
Notes

 
Questions for Further Reflection

 
Suggestions for Further Reading

 
 
Part II : The Reasons For Wars
 
Chapter 6: The Individual Level
Aggression, Drives, and Instincts

 
Sociobiology and Evolutionary Psychology

 
Freudian and Post-Freudian Psychoanalytic Theory

 
“Innate Depravity” and “Human Nature”

 
Social Learning Theories

 
Gender, War, and Peace

 
Prejudice, Images of the Enemy, and Human Needs

 
Attributions and Just-World Theories of Behavior

 
Altruism, Aggression, and Reconciliation

 
The Attractions of War

 
Inhibitions Against War

 
Some Issues in Nuclear Psychology

 
A Final Note on Individual-Level Explanations of Wars

 
Notes

 
Questions for Further Reflection

 
Suggestions for Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 7: The Group Level
War: Its Prehistory and Early History

 
Functions of Nontechnological Wars

 
Characteristics of Premodern and Nontechnological Wars

 
Alternatives to Nontechnological Warfare

 
Underlying Group Processes

 
Brief Conclusion on Premodern and Nontechnological Warfare

 
Nations, States, Ethnic Groups, and Nationalism

 
A Brief History of Nationalist Wars

 
Types of Nationalist Wars

 
Nationalist Threats to States

 
Racial and Cultural Intolerance

 
Nationalism and the Public Mood

 
Nationalism and Political Ideology

 
The Question of “National Character”

 
A Final Note on Nationalism and Ethnocentrism

 
Notes

 
Questions for Further Reflection

 
Suggestions for Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 8: The State Level
Defining the State

 
State Sovereignty

 
The State System

 
Alliances Between States

 
Realpolitik and Raisons d’État

 
Internal Cohesion

 
Arms Races

 
A Final Note on War and States

 
Notes

 
Questions for Further Reflection

 
Suggestions for Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 9: The Decision-Making Level
The Role of Leaders

 
Crisis Decision Making

 
Some Issues Regarding Perception and Cognition

 
A Final Note on Decision Making

 
Notes

 
Questions for Further Reflection

 
Suggestions for Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 10: The Ideological, Social, and Economic Levels
Conflicting Ideologies

 
Population Pressure and Other Social Stresses

 
Poverty as a Cause of War

 
Imperialism

 
The Economic Effects of Wars

 
The Effects of Military Spending

 
Cultural Conflicts and the “Clash of Civilizations”

 
A Final Note on the Reasons for Wars and Peace

 
Notes

 
Questions for Further Reflection

 
Suggestions for Further Reading

 
 
Part III: Building "Negative Peace"
 
Chapter 11: Peace Movements
Popular Attitudes Toward Peace

 
Attention, Success, and Failure

 
Historical and Current Perceptions of War

 
History and Taxonomy of Peace Movements

 
Interconnections Between Peace and Other Social Movements

 
Some Internal Debates Within Peace Movements

 
Some Criticisms of Peace Movements

 
Maintaining the Momentum of Peace Movements

 
A Final Note on Peace Movements

 
Notes

 
Questions for Further Reflection

 
Suggestions for Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 12: Diplomacy, Negotiations, and Conflict Resolution
Human Conflict

 
Summitry

 
A Brief History of Diplomacy

 
Diplomacy and Military Force

 
Diplomacy and Realpolitik

 
Track II Diplomacy

 
Third-Party Involvement

 
Negotiating Techniques for Resolving Conflict

 
Methods of Integrative Bargaining

 
Additional Negotiating Techniques

 
A Final Note on Conflict Resolution

 
Notes

 
Questions for Further Reflection

 
Suggestions for Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 13: Disarmament and Arms Control
Different Visions of Disarmament

 
A Brief History of Disarmament

 
Some Current Agreements

 
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

 
Future Prospects

 
Some Conventional Arms Abuses and Opportunities

 
Pitfalls of Arms Control Agreements

 
Benefits of Arms Control Prospects

 
Economic Conversion

 
A Final Note on Disarmament and Arms Control

 
Notes

 
Questions for Further Reflection

 
Suggestions for Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 14: International Cooperation
The United Nations

 
Limitations on the UN's Use of Force

 
Other Functions of the United Nations

 
Functionalism

 
Regional Organizations

 
World Government?

 
A Brief History of Plans for World Government

 
Pros and Cons of World Government

 
The Dream of World Government: A Waste of Time?

 
The Prospects for World Government

 
The Uniting of the United States of America: A Rehearsal for a Global Federal System?

 
Toward World Government?

 
A Final Note on International Cooperation

 
Notes

 
Questions for Further Reflection

 
Suggestions for Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 15: Peace Through Strength?
Balance of Power

 
Problems With Balance of Power

 
The Rise of the BRICS

 
Collective Security

 
National Security via Military Force

 
Appeasement, Provocation, and Deterrence

 
The Use and Abuse of Threats

 
The Prisoner’s Dilemma

 
Sanctions

 
Nonprovocative Defense

 
A Final Note on Peace Through Strength

 
Notes

 
Questions for Further Reflection

 
Suggestions for Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 16: International Law
The Sources of International Law

 
Enforcement of International Law

 
The Conflict between International Law and State Sovereignty

 
Hidden Strengths of International Law

 
The Law of War

 
A Final Note on International Law

 
Notes

 
Questions of Further Reflection

 
Suggestions for Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 17: Ethical and Religious Perspectives
Ethics

 
Religious Attitudes Toward War

 
Christian “Realism”

 
Religious Pacifism

 
Nuclear Ethics

 
A Final Note on Ethics and Religion

 
Notes

 
Questions for Further Reflection

 
Suggestions for Further Reading

 
 
Part IV: Building Positive Peace
 
Chapter 18: Human Rights
A Brief History of Human Rights

 
Women’s Rights

 
Some Human Rights Controversies

 
Refugees

 
LGBT Rights

 
The Legal Status of Human Rights

 
Human Rights and the Nation-State

 
Human Rights and Peace

 
Competing Conceptions of Human Rights

 
The Responsibility to Protect

 
Promoting Human Rights

 
A Final Note on Human Rights

 
Notes

 
Questions for Further Study

 
Suggestions for Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 19: Ecological Well-Being
Enhanced Environmental Awareness

 
The Environment and National Security

 
The Tragedy of the Commons

 
Some Major Environmental Problems

 
Some Environmental Principles

 
Environmental Activism

 
Struggling for Sustainability

 
Resource Wars

 
Environmental Ethics

 
A Final Note on Ecological Well-Being

 
Notes

 
Questions for Further Reflection

 
Suggestions for Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 20: Economic Well-Being
The Problem of Poverty

 
Socioeconomic Development

 
Ethics, Equity and a Bit of History

 
Hunger

 
Measuring Wealth, Poverty, and Income Inequality

 
Population

 
The Demographic-Economic Environmental Trap

 
Future Directions

 
The Case of Costa Rica

 
A Final Note on Economic Well-Being

 
Notes

 
Questions for Further Reflection

 
Suggestions for Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 21: Movements Toward Democracy
What Is Democracy?

 
A Brief Modern History of Democratization

 
Democracies and Wars

 
Can Democracy Be Exported? Should It Be?

 
A Final Note on Movements Toward Democracy

 
Notes

 
Questions for Further Reflection

 
Suggestions for Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 22: National Reconciliation
Truth and Reconciliation Commissions

 
In the Absence of Truthful Reconciliation . . .

 
TRC Downsides and Caveats

 
A Final Note on Reconciliation

 
Notes

 
Questions for Further Reflection

 
Suggestions for Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 23: Nonviolence
What Is Nonviolence?

 
Violence

 
Nonviolent Peace Theorists and Theories

 
Mohandas K. Gandhi

 
Gandhian Nonviolence in Theory and Practice

 
Martin Luther King, Jr. and the U.S. Civil Rights Movement

 
Some Nonviolent Successes

 
Civilian-Based Defense

 
Does Nonviolence “Work”? If So, Why?

 
Prospects for Nonviolence

 
A Final Note on Nonviolence

 
Notes

 
Questions for Further Reflection

 
Suggestions for Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 24: Toward a More Peaceful Future
Transformations of Self and Society

 
Toward the Future

 
A Final Note on Transformation and the Future

 
Notes

 
Questions for Further Reflection

 
Suggestions for Further Reading

 

This is an excellent introduction to the field of peace and conflict studies. The book not only has valuable research from the field of peace and conflict studies, but clearly explains what the field is, how it differs from program to program, and what is generally covered in the scope of the field. The authors also explain the theoretical viewpoints that are incorporated into the research.

Dr Michael Hollingsworth
Political Science and Criminal Justice, University Of South Alabama
November 24, 2019

David P. Barash

David P. Barash (PhD, University of Wisconsin) is a professor of psychology emeritus at the University of Washington. His studies span animal behavior, evolution, and social psychology, with concentrations in sociobiology, psychological aspects of the arms race and nuclear war, and peace studies. A prolific author and researcher, he has written more than 270 technical articles and 40 books ranging from monographs to college textbooks to popular trade titles. His book Introduction to Peace Studies (1991) was the first comprehensive undergraduate textbook in the field of Peace Studies. His book Threats: Intimidation and its Discontents (2020... More About Author

Charles Peter Webel

Charles P. Webel (PhD, University of California, Berkeley) is presently a professor of international relations and philosophy at the University of New York in Prague. He previously held the Delp- Wilkinson Chair in Peace Studies at Chapman University. A five-time Fulbright Scholar and graduate of the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California, he has conducted postdoctoral research at Harvard University, the Max Planck Institute, and the Universities of Paris, Frankfurt, and Heidelberg. He has also taught in the Peace and Conflict Studies Program at Berkeley, the Honors College of University of South Florida, and at Harvard College.... More About Author

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ISBN: 9781506344225
$125.00