Why We Fight
The Roots of War and the Paths to Peace
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Narrated by:
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Landon Woodson
About this listen
An acclaimed expert on violence and seasoned peacebuilder explains the five reasons why conflict (rarely) blooms into war, and how to interrupt that deadly process.
It’s easy to overlook the underlying strategic forces of war, to see it solely as a series of errors, accidents, and emotions gone awry. It’s also easy to forget that war shouldn’t happen—and most of the time it doesn’t. Around the world, there are millions of hostile rivalries, yet only a tiny fraction erupt into violence. Too many accounts of conflict forget this.
With a counterintuitive approach, Blattman reminds us that most rivals loathe one another in peace. That’s because war is too costly to fight. Enemies almost always find it better to split the pie than spoil it or struggle over thin slices. So, in those rare instances when fighting ensues, we should ask: What kept rivals from compromise?
Why We Fight draws on decades of economics, political science, psychology, and real-world interventions to lay out the root causes and remedies for war, showing that violence is not the norm; that there are only five reasons why conflict wins over compromise; and how peacemakers turn the tides through tinkering, not transformation.
From warring states to street gangs, ethnic groups and religious sects to political factions, there are common dynamics to heed and lessons to learn. Along the way, we meet vainglorious European monarchs, African dictators, Indian mobs, Nazi pilots, British football hooligans, ancient Greeks, and fanatical Americans.
What of remedies that shift incentives away from violence and get parties back to deal-making? Societies are surprisingly good at interrupting and ending violence when they want to—even the gangs of Medellin do it. Realistic and optimistic, this is book that lends new meaning to the old adage, “Give peace a chance”.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2022 Christopher Blattman (P)2022 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"As what could end up as Europe’s bloodiest war since 1945 grinds on, this is an apposite time for a book explaining why and when human beings fight… Blattman identifies five “logical ways” why, despite all the reasons to compromise, people opt to fight. All five map quite neatly onto the war in Ukraine. [A] valuable guide, supported by engaging anecdotes, to what makes people turn to violence—and why, mercifully, they are usually too sensible to do so.”—The Economist
“Blattman deftly translates knotty ideas from game theory and social choice theory for a lay audience, weaving in colorful anecdotes from his own life and travels.”—Foreign Affairs
"Noting that the high costs of violence almost always make peaceful agreement a better solution to antagonisms than violence, University of Chicago economist Blattman analyzes forces that often counteract that logic, including the self-interest of leaders, ideological passions, miscalculation of an opponent’s strength or motives, and mistrust… This stimulating discussion of violence illuminates a fraught subject with sober reason."—Publishers Weekly
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The Return of Marco Polo's World
- War, Strategy, and American Interests in the Twenty-First Century
- By: Robert D. Kaplan
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Drawing on decades of firsthand experience as a foreign correspondent and military embed for The Atlantic, as well as encounters with preeminent realist thinkers, Kaplan outlines the timeless principles that should shape America's role in a turbulent world: a respect for the limits of Western-style democracy; a delineation between American interests and American values; an awareness of the psychological toll of warfare; a projection of power via a strong navy; and more.
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Essays on the Region of the Silk Road
- By Jeff Beardsley on 05-19-18
By: Robert D. Kaplan
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We'll Be Back
- The Fall and Rise of America
- By: Kurt Schlichter
- Narrated by: Damon Abernathy
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1991, the smoldering ruins of Saddam Hussein’s regime testified to America’s unchallenged might. Having defeated one of the world’s largest armies in a matter of days, the United States looked forward to a new century of peace and prosperity. Thirty years later, a ragtag Taliban chased us out of Afghanistan in a humiliating rout. At home, our cities are cesspools of homelessness and crime. The former land of opportunity seems to be in irreversible decline.
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Run!’nnnn
- By Mike Shirley on 08-19-22
By: Kurt Schlichter
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Fire in the Lake
- By: Frances FitzGerald
- Narrated by: Jeff Bottoms
- Length: 22 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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This magisterial work, based on Frances FitzGerald's many years of research and travels, takes us inside the history of Vietnam - the traditional, ancestor-worshiping villages, the conflicts between Communists and anti-Communists, Catholics and Buddhists, generals and monks, the disruption created by French colonialism, and America's ill-fated intervention - and reveals the country as seen through Vietnamese eyes. Originally published in 1972, Fire in the Lake was the first history of Vietnam written by an American, and subsequently won the Pulitzer Prize.
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American Hubris; Vietnamese Misery
- By gunnerThrax on 01-24-21
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The Cold War
- A World History
- By: Odd Arne Westad
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 22 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Cold War, Odd Arne Westad offers a new perspective on a century when a superpower rivalry and an ideological war transformed every corner of our globe. We traditionally think of the Cold War as a post-World War II diplomatic and military conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. But in this major new work, Westad argues that the conflict must be understood as a global ideological confrontation with roots in the industrial revolution and with continuing implications for the world today.
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A lenghy treatise on the Cold War
- By Donald Hill on 11-21-17
By: Odd Arne Westad
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The Democracy Project
- A History, a Crisis, a Movement
- By: David Graeber
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Democracy has been the American religion since before the Revolution - from New England town halls to the multicultural democracy of Atlantic pirate ships. But can our current political system, one that seems responsive only to the wealthiest among us and leaves most Americans feeling disengaged, voiceless, and disenfranchised, really be called democratic? And if the tools of our democracy are not working to solve the rising crises we face, how can we - average citizens - make change happen? David Graeber, one of the most influential scholars and activists of his generation, takes listeners on a journey through the idea of democracy.
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Must-read: such insight, an awakening!
- By Kevin on 10-15-14
By: David Graeber
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Why We Fight
- Defeating America's Enemies - with No Apologies
- By: Sebastian Gorka
- Narrated by: Sebastian Gorka
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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WAR. It will happen again. We must be ready. Sober words from Dr. Sebastian Gorka, a man who has made the unvarnished truth his specialty. And there’s one eternal truth that Americans are in danger of forgetting: the most important weapon in any geopolitical conflict is the will to win. And we must win. In this powerful manifesto, Dr. Gorka explains the basic principles that have guided strategists since Sun Tzu penned The Art of War in the sixth century BC. To defeat your enemy, you must know him. But that’s the last thing liberal elites are interested in.
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Extremely informative and educational
- By Kami on 10-16-18
By: Sebastian Gorka
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Empires of Trust
- How Rome Built - and America Is Building - a New World
- By: Thomas F. Madden
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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In Empires of Trust, Professor Thomas F. Madden explores surprising parallels between the Roman and American republics. By making friends of enemies and demonstrating a commitment to fairness, the two republics - both "reluctant" yet unquestioned super-powers - built empires based on trust. Madden also includes vital lessons from the Roman Republic's 100-year struggle with "terrorism."
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Bork, Reagan, and Honest of Rome
- By Nelson Alexander on 12-20-08
By: Thomas F. Madden
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A Savage Order
- How the World's Deadliest Countries Can Forge a Path to Security
- By: Rachel Kleinfeld
- Narrated by: Joyce Bean
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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From Georgia to Colombia to Ghana and Italy - crime exists in every democratic nation on earth, but in some places, it runs rampant, shaping all aspects of civic life. A Savage Order investigates why and how some places, riddled by inept government and states, are able to recover. Drawing on fifteen years of both academic and firsthand field research, Dr. Rachel Kleinfeld documents the unambiguous measures that societies have taken to empower the strong civic movements, governments, and institutions that protect countries and mitigate atrocities that damage people's lives.
By: Rachel Kleinfeld
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Blood Oil
- Tyrants, Violence, and the Rules That Run the World
- By: Leif Wenar
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 20 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Natural resources empower the world's most coercive men. Autocrats like Putin and the Saudis spend oil money on weapons and repression. ISIS and Congo's militias spend resource money on atrocities and ammunition. For decades resource-fueled authoritarians and extremists have forced endless crises on the West - and the ultimate source of their resource money is us, paying at the gas station and the mall.
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Caveat: Human beings -- Totally untrustworthy
- By lost the power cord could you send me another cord address 13 east wilmont ave somers point nj 08244 on 05-17-16
By: Leif Wenar
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Bully of Asia
- By: Steven W. Mosher
- Narrated by: Al Kessel
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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The signs are everywhere. China unilaterally claims the entire South China Sea as sovereign territory, then builds artificial islands to bolster its claim. It suddenly activates an air defense identification zone over the East China Sea, and threatens to down any aircraft that does not report its position. It builds roads into Indian territory, then redraws the maps to show that it is actually Chinese territory. The People's Republic under President Xi Jinping is quickly becoming The Bully of Asia.
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Eye opening, up to date
- By Silomi on 01-01-19
By: Steven W. Mosher
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Someone Has to Say It
- The Hidden History of How America Was Lost
- By: Tom Kawczynski
- Narrated by: Jeff Winston
- Length: 5 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Starting at the turn of the last century, this book lays out systematically how Americans have lost control of our government, of our civil society, of our schools, of our companies, and in many cases, even our families.
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Great and inspiring book
- By K. E. Davila on 07-09-20
By: Tom Kawczynski
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The Weaponisation of Everything
- A Field Guide to the New Way of War
- By: Mark Galeotti
- Narrated by: Mark Galeotti
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Hybrid war, grey-zone warfare, unrestricted war: Today, traditional conflict - fought with guns, bombs, and drones - has become too expensive to wage, too unpopular at home, and too difficult to manage. In an age when America threatens Europe with sanctions, and when China spends billions buying influence abroad, the world is heading for a new era of permanent low-level conflict, often unnoticed, undeclared, and unending.
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Clear, concise, and thought provoking
- By Dad / Husband (who rarely reviews) on 03-08-22
By: Mark Galeotti
What listeners say about Why We Fight
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Heidi
- 06-08-22
Incredibly well written and a new must read for all policy schools, policymakers and aspiring do-gooders
I found both my framework for peacemaking shifted based on evidence, I remember helpful anecdotes, and I finished inspired to continue finding my own marginal impact.
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- Josh
- 05-25-22
Deep question with deep answers
This book summarizes the political science and economics literatures on violence and warfare, and distills the origins of violence to five mechanisms: unchecked interests, intangible incentives, uncertainty, commitment problems, and misperceptions. My understanding is that though these ideas have been floating around academia for a while, they haven't been succinctly organized and presented to general audiences until now. Unchecked interests refers to the fact that often the leaders of groups do not pay the price of violence. Intangible incentives refers concepts like honor, vengeance, and glory that tilt towards violence for violence's sake. Uncertainty refers to classic results in game theory in which asymmetric information leads to Pareto dominated outcomes (i.e. wasteful outcomes in which everyone is worse off). Specifically, in most confrontations, potential combatants know roughly their own strength but do not know the strength of the opposition. In the absence of asymmetric information, the two parties should decide how to divide the surplus immediately, as violence is pure waste. But with asymmetric information, violence is the only way to call the other party's bluff. Commitment problems refers to situations in which one party cannot credibly commit to restraining their growing power (stop research on a nuclear weapon, stop growing their army, stop positioning forces in threatening places, etc.) and so the value of first strike goes up relative to delay. Finally, misperceptions refers to behavioral biases, especially overconfidence.
This enumeration is highly enlightening and adds much on one of the other best books in this area, "Better Angels of Our Nature" by Pinker. I have two criticisms. (1) I have heard Blattman on several podcasts. He's a good speaker and I would have preferred that he read his own book. (2) I don't like the journalistic-style of this book in which many anecdotes are used to introduce new ideas. Anecdotes are great as examples to illustrate points, but I often wasn't connecting the anecdotes to the points.
As a whole, I highly recommend to anyone interested in understanding violence.
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- Susan C. Hasty
- 06-20-22
An Essential Read for Negotiators & Entrepreneurs
I highly recommend this book regardless of your profession. Full of evidenced based research and the lived experience of the Author. He curates the political, social, behavioral and economic realities with facinating and unique idiological-free narrative.
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- PYS
- 05-07-22
Fascinating
Fascinating book on why humans engage and avoid wars. Wonderfully written, it combines clear explanations and great stories from around the world. I've recommended it to several friends already!
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- Rurik McKaiser
- 05-03-22
Useful beyond measure
This is beyond a shadow of a doubt one of THEE most useful books on solving problems, especially the solving of WICKED problems.
I love the fact that the author spent huge amounts of time on the African continent to do awesome primary research.
The timing of this book is also really great in affording us GREAT insights into the Russian Ukrainian war.
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- Veronica Mancheno
- 01-23-24
Argumentation of Ideas
The author keeps the listener engaged by a combination of stories of people, policies and regional events. The weaving of social research, histories and stories makes the authors framework palpable and perhaps even applicable for most people.
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