The war puzzle /

Vasquez (Rutgers Univ.) is one of the most incisive current exponents of "scientific" analyses of the causes of war and peace, and here builds on his previous work toward an "issue" approach to world politics. In the tradition of Correlates of War (1979), ed. by J. David Singer, he stresses the value of inductive exploration, as opposed to deductive modelling, of patterns of warfare across time. Vasquez is struck by the overreliance on "realist" or power- based explanations of war, and seeks to balance the equation by conceptualizing war as a learned group process consisting of various actions, reactions, and foreign policy missteps over key issues such as territoriality, taken in the context of international rules and institutions. He first accumulates major findings from the existing war literature ranging from Clausewitz to modern behavioralists and ethologists, and, asking what countries were fighting about, calls into question some of the prevailing conclusions. Though he may at times confuse the concepts of territoriality and proximity, the book is an important contribution to the literature, alongside recent works by M. Midlarsky, J. Levy, and others. While aimed at an academic audience, it is comprehensive and readable enough to be a sort of reference on war. All levels. F. S. Pearson; Wayne State University