This volume examines the concept and phenomenon of war through a variety of lenses.
Each of these approaches illuminates war and its various relationships to society, offering a different aspect of understanding. While a range of approaches probably cannot be exhaustive, it offers a rounded introduction to and exploration of war. Indeed, the attempt to capture the scope of war in one volume is rather ambitious, given that the most important and influential writer on war in modern times – Carl von Clausewitz – died with his massive multi-tome work unfinished. And that was a work which sought out the essence of war, but in doing so did not even begin to examine certain aspects of the subject – as an ex-officer, his emphasis, broadly, was on understanding war in order to know better how to conduct warfare.
Clausewitz’s great legacy is to have identified the centrality of politics in war. This is an understanding embraced generally throughout academic literature on war, even if the focus in such work has been elsewhere – on battles, on outcomes, and so on. While some approaches have investigated aspects of war connected with values, including the study of the laws of war and the issues surrounding war crimes, none has identified the centrality of values in war. This volume, based on research and reflection on many aspects of war, argues that values, ethics and rules are central to defining and understanding war. The book examines different aspects of war, beginning with an exploration of the term ‘war’ itself, which serves as the departure point for analysis of different aspects of war.
This book will be essential reading for students of war studies and strategic studies, and recommended reading for students of military history, security studies and IR.