Why We Fight: The Roots of War and the Paths to Peace

by Christopher Blattman

Unconstrained, overcentralized rule has been the fundamental root of conflict in Liberia, the continent, and much of the world, he argued. Checks and balances were the solutions.[1]

without a sovereign power, life is “nasty, brutish and short.”

Wicked ones are way more complicated. There’s no template, there are many possible roots, measuring success is hard, it requires coordinating many actors, and each case is unique.[2] Lots of social problems are wicked: inequality, poverty, drug abuse, and chronic disease.

Some of the most promising policies are nearly impossible to evaluate and quantify.

Rivals have amazingly different mindsets, beliefs, and memories.

the importance of little things: gestures of respect, long amounts of time spent together, and being able to meet in secret. Mediators can help make this happen.

The key dynamic in this War Made States view is this: If you fail to build a powerful Leviathan, your society will be swallowed by societies that succeeded in doing so. As a result of this brutal survival of the fittest, strong states emerged over time.[23]

We might get most of the benefits—a great leveling, technological advance, or a stronger state—from rivalry, not warfare. Historians call this process defensive modernization.