Kagan: On War Donald Kagan: On The Origins of War - and the Preservation of Peace

Hardcover: 606 pages
Publisher: Doubleday 1995
ISBN: 0-385-42374-8

"Peace does not preserve itself. "

Donald Kagan researched 5 cases; the Peloponnesian War (431 - 404 B.C.), I WW (1914 - 1918), the Second Punic War (218 - 201 B.C.), II WW (1939 - 1945) and the Cuban missile crisis (1962), to study the origins of war - and the tricky business of preserving peace.

Kagan promotes a classic realist, pessimistic belief that war, not peace, is the defining permanent feature of international life. Preservation of peace is the responsibility of the powerful. I would've enjoyed reading more about Kagan's views about justice in international politics; too often preserving stability, status quo, is a mere justification for unjust policies.

"It is, in fact, a requirement of true realism in the modern world to recognize the inescapable role of what has come to be called ideology but is not very different from what once was called honor. " p. 351

Policies blind to the balances of power never work - good intentions do not count. Kagan's sobering account of the II WW and his views on appeasement are interesting. Appeasement is a solid policy option, especially from position of strentgh. On the other hand, appeasement from a position of weakness motivated by fear can be devastating.

"Yet anyone who analyzes the origins of particular wars must also be struck by a sense that many of them were unnecessary." p.566

Second Opinion: Richard Bernstein / The New York Times  ¶ 1/22/2007 09:01:00 ap.