Posted on Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Dr. Michael Aleprete, Westminster College assistant professor of political science, published a review of David Sobek's The Causes of Warin the October issue of Comparative Political Studies.
Sobek's book argues there is no single explanation for war: factors leading to war in one case may well lead to peace in another. The book draws on a wide range of examples to show how both domestic and international politics push states to-or pull them from-the brink of armed conflict. Understanding the onset of war, he contends, requires a movement away from single theories toward one that embraces the multifaceted causes of war.
The summary of Aleprete's review states, "The book addresses many of the themes found in the quantitative conflict processes literature including balance of power, democratic peace, liberal peace (trade), polarity, and power transition theory. In the end, while the work fails to deliver fully on its analytic promise, its readable style and comprehensive review of the quantitative conflict processes literature compensate for its analytic limitations."
Aleprete, who joined the Westminster faculty in 2007, earned an undergraduate degree from Duquesne University and master's and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh.
Contact Aleprete at (724) 946-7254 or e-mail alepreme@westminster.edu for additional information.
