Overconfidence and War is popular PDF and ePub book, written by Dominic D. P. Johnson in 2009-07-01, it is a fantastic choice for those who relish reading online the Political Science genre. Let's immerse ourselves in this engaging Political Science book by exploring the summary and details provided below. Remember, Overconfidence and War can be Read Online from any device for your convenience.
Overconfidence and War Book PDF Summary
Opponents rarely go to war without thinking they can win--and clearly, one side must be wrong. This conundrum lies at the heart of the so-called "war puzzle": rational states should agree on their differences in power and thus not fight. But as Dominic Johnson argues in Overconfidence and War, states are no more rational than people, who are susceptible to exaggerated ideas of their own virtue, of their ability to control events, and of the future. By looking at this bias--called "positive illusions"--as it figures in evolutionary biology, psychology, and the politics of international conflict, this book offers compelling insights into why states wage war. Johnson traces the effects of positive illusions on four turning points in twentieth-century history: two that erupted into war (World War I and Vietnam); and two that did not (the Munich crisis and the Cuban missile crisis). Examining the two wars, he shows how positive illusions have filtered into politics, causing leaders to overestimate themselves and underestimate their adversaries--and to resort to violence to settle a conflict against unreasonable odds. In the Munich and Cuban missile crises, he shows how lessening positive illusions may allow leaders to pursue peaceful solutions. The human tendency toward overconfidence may have been favored by natural selection throughout our evolutionary history because of the advantages it conferred--heightening combat performance or improving one's ability to bluff an opponent. And yet, as this book suggests--and as the recent conflict in Iraq bears out--in the modern world the consequences of this evolutionary legacy are potentially deadly.
Detail Book of Overconfidence and War PDF
- Author : Dominic D. P. Johnson
- Release : 01 July 2009
- Publisher : Harvard University Press
- ISBN : 9780674039162
- Genre : Political Science
- Total Page : 289 pages
- Language : English
- PDF File Size : 8,8 Mb
If you're still pondering over how to secure a PDF or EPUB version of the book Overconfidence and War by Dominic D. P. Johnson, don't worry! All you have to do is click the 'Get Book' buttons below to kick off your Download or Read Online journey. Just a friendly reminder: we don't upload or host the files ourselves.
