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. 'Nothing could be
more relevant today than war and peace. Why We Fight by Christopher Blattman is an outstanding
and original book on this topic' Martin Wolf Financial Times 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 Medellín Columbia do it. Realistic and optimistic
this is book that lends new meaning to the old adage Give peace a chance.
