Poli Sci 142K:
Politics and Warfare
Spring 2015
Course Themes
Week 1, Monday, March 30
I. The Causal Origins of War
A. Structural and Institutional Explanations
B. Warfare: “coordinated inter-societal violence”
1. Centralized decision-maker
2. Rational war choice
3. The World War I case
C. Concepts
II. The Paradox of Domestic Commitment
A. Escalation of the Domestic Costs of Warfare (1500-2000s)
B. Paradox of Escalating Domestic Commitment
C. Explanations
1. Coercion
2. Bargaining
III. The Problem of Combat Compliance
A. Explanations
1. Automaticity
2. Leadership
3. Combat Contract
4. Falsifiable Hypotheses
IV. Cases
A. The Long Cycle of War: 1500-2000s
B. World War I and World War II
C. Major-Minor Power Wars (1500-2000s)
D. Korea; Vietnam; Middle East