When is military force an acceptable tool of
foreign policy? Why do democracies use force
against each other? David R. Mares argues that
the key factors influencing political leaders in
all types of polities are the costs to their
constituencies of using force and whether the
leader can survive their displeasure if the
costs exceed what they are willing to pay.
Violent Peace proposes a conceptual scheme for
analyzing militarized conflict and supports this
framework with evidence from the history of Latin
America. His model has greater explanatory power
when applied to this conflict-ridden region than
a model emphasizing U.S. power, levels of
democracy, or the balance of power.
Mares takes conflict as a given in international
relations but does not believe that large-scale
violence must inevitably result, arguing that it
is the management of conflict, and not necessarily
its resolution, that should be the focus of
students, scholars, and practitioners of
international relations. Mares argues that
deterrence represents the key to conflict
management by directly affecting the costs of
using force. Conflicts escalate to violence when
leaders ignore the requisites for credible and
ongoing deterrence. Successful deterrence, he
suggests, lies in a strategy that combines
diplomatic and military incentives, allowing
competition among heterogenous states to be
managed in a way that minimizes conflict and
maximizes cooperation.
author: David R. Mares
ISBN: 0231111878
FORMAT: PDF
category/genre: Politricks
Download File Size:1.34 MB
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