This section is a partial list of the many and varied causes of war.
Accidents
mistaken moves by an army, navy or air force triggers retaliation…
Adverse Legal Ruling
a problematic finding by an international court…
Agency Problems
where the incentives of leaders differ from those of the people they represent…
Aggression
the basic instincts of individuals and many Nation States…
Aggression Reaction
a counter unintuitive reaction due to the actions of an aggressive enemy…
Aggressive Actions
when a Nation State acts in a hostile way against another Nation State causing a violent reaction…
Aggressive Substitution
going to war based on one stated reason, but really for another…
Alliance Obligations
changes in alliances, believing that an enemy’s allies would not come to the defense of an enemy, free riding by letting the stronger ally fight the war, loyalty to allies who might be in threat or engaged in armed conflict…
Ambiguous Communication
misconstrued information coming from a potential enemy Nation State…
Ambitious Ruling Elites
Nation States dissatisfied with the status quo…
Ambition
when leaders of Nation States have goals for their Nation States that can only be achieved through war…
Anarchic System
encouraging Nation States to warfare when there are no international laws or means of enforcing international laws…
Annexing Buffer Zones
establishing security or an enemy removing the security of geography…
Appeasement Failure
backing down under threat thus undermining deterrence, failing to confront a new hegemon…
Arguments
the failure to resolve disputes and believing that the only way to settle disagreements is through armed conflict…
Arms Deployment
moving armaments into place that threaten a potential enemy…
Arms Race
aggressive plans, budget increases/decreases, differentials in military buildup possibly due to economic downturn, domestic politics, economic incentives, international prestige, new weapons, as ability grows, the willingness to use the arms increases…
Asymmetric Information
relating to the potential costs and benefits of war, two Nation States having contradictory assessment of their own military power…
Avenging Insults
anger at other’s behavior…
Autocratic Government
enabling continuous long term strategic decision making…
Bad Faith
belief that an enemy will never do anything good…
Balance of Power
concern of imbalance, maintenance, new Nation States are created…
Bargaining Credibility
lack of ability to enforce a bargaining agreement and/or a lack of the ability to credibly commit to abide by an agreement…
Bargaining Discrepancies
leading to failure –
1. Asymmetric information about the potential costs and benefits of war…
2. A lack of ability to enforce a bargaining agreement and/or a lack of the ability to credibly commit to abide by an agreement…
3. Indivisibilities of resources that might change hands in a war, so that not all potentially mutually beneficial bargaining agreements are feasible…
4. Agency problems, where the incentives of leaders differ from those of the populations that they represent…
5. Multilateral interactions where every potential agreement is blocked by some coalition of states or constituencies who can derail it…
Bargaining Failure
when for various reasons a deal cannot be made to avoid war…
Belief in Victory
belief that there is more to be gained by war than by diplomacy, faith that if one wages war one will win…
Betrayal
once friends now enemies because of a reverse in policy…
Betrayal of Peace Terms
when a Nation State loses an earlier war with the same Nation State that now alters their peace agreement thus provoking a war in revenge against its former victor…
Biases
various belief systems, world views cultural, economic, political, social…
Biological/Psychological Imperatives
aggressive instincts, war weariness recedes…
Blockades
when a Nation State stops the shipment of needed and vital supplies to a potential enemy-state…
Bloodletting
Nation States may encourage war between rival Nation States to reduce the power of both states in order to eventually increase their own relative power…
Buffer Territory
when a Nation State goes to war to create space between it and potential enemies…
Bureaucratic Politics
pushing to enhance the interests of one’s own institution…
Causal Chain
an inadvertent series of causes that take on their own life leading to unintentional consequences…
Chance
a spark that ignites a war…
Citizens Malaise
the feeling that individuals have of boredom, of personal impotence, the need to escape a monotonous life…
Civilization Fault Lines
major differences in the culture and societies of different civilization can cause violent conflicts…
Coalition Imperatives
certain groups of allies might be more inclined to wage war than their opposites…
Coercive Bargaining
using deception and denial in discussions…
Cognitive Limitations
decisions to wage war even when facts indicate that the war would be lost, memory failure, early closure/new information analyzed by old beliefs/cognitive consistency/ beliefs are resistant to change, premises become presumptions, fitting facts into theory rather than the other way around…
Collision Course
when one aggressive Nation State pushes constantly against another Nation State…
Combative Personality
when policymakers and military planners character traits exhibit argumentative attitudes…
Commercial Interests
expanding markets…
Commitment Problems
cannot commit due to weakness and/or fear, disbelief in credibility…
Competition for Power
the need to build and maintain a powerful position and the fear of losing it, the requirement to hold on to allies in order to sustain security…
Confidence
favorable seasonal conditions, hubris, god is on our side, national celebrations, rising prosperity…
Conflicting Advice
when policymakers and military planners are confused by getting various different opinions about what decisions to make regarding armed conflict…
Contempt
when Nation States feel distain and disrespect for a potential enemy Nation State…
Conventional Wisdom
influenced by assumed presuppositions…
Corporatist Interests
financial gain…
Coups
military and political overthrow of government…
Credibility Maintenance
not assuring allies and/or enemies of reliability…
Cultural Differences
feeling of superiority, lack of respect and trust for the ‘other’…
Cultural Incompatibility
when a Nation State feels animosity toward another Nation State because of fear and hostility to the other country’s cultural beliefs and practices…
Cultural Maintenance
the survival of the national culture…
Cyber Incidents
a cyber infrastructure attack…
Decision Maker Background
whether or not the policymakers deciding on war directly experienced war or not…
Decision Making Flaws
poor structure and process…
Decision Pressure
when there are too little time and too many decisions requiring careful consideration of actions…
Defensive Attack
preemptive self-protection…
Defensive Counter Attack
offensive self-protection…
Defensive Reaction
offensive self-protections, when Nation State acts aggressively to prevent further erosion of its security…
Democracy Defense
to defend democracy around the world, support the theory of liberal hegemony…
Democratic Deficit
inability of democracy to make long term strategic decisions due to frequent free elections…
Democratic Transition
during the destabilizing period of democratizing, a Nation State might be more inclined to wage war than at the end of the process…
Demographics
expanding population, youth-spike, overabundance of males…
Denial/Deception Syndrome
believing that the enemy is lying about their intentions…
Deterrence Failure
lack of the means or will to posture strength against an enemy…
Dictator’s Ambitions
aggressive character and personality of a leader…
Diplomatic Bluff
creating uncertainty and concern…
Diplomacy Failure
asymmetric information, bargaining mistakes, coercive, contempt, contact cut off from time to time to make political points, disagreement, enforcement inability, insults…
Distrust
when a Nation State does not believe what a probable enemy Nation State says and does…
Domestic Politics
diversionary war to reduce attention to local problems and gain support for the current government, internal behavior and structure of Nation States affect their international relations…
Ease of Victory
the tendency to attack when winning seems assured…
Ecological Crisis
need for water and food…
Economic Embargos
sanctions that strangle the economy of a Nation State…
Economic Failure
fear of domestic political unrest leading to foreign adventurism…
Economic Gain
benefits outweighing costs, obtaining land and goods, protecting economic interests, when the desire of a Nation State for financial rewards in the form of trade and other economic indicators are thwarted by another Nation State…
Economic Growth
as the need for resources multiply there is an additional concern for their availability…
Economic Meltdown
when the world suffers a major depression leading to unrest in Nation States must affected by the disruption to their economies…
Economic Sanctions
the application of financial and trade restrictions on a potential enemy Nation State…
Economic Strength
the ability to outlast the economy of an enemy…
Economic Stress
climate change, food and water shortage, severe depravation…
Egos
when policymakers and military planners have feelings of superiority or conversely get their feelings hurt by the attitudes and behaviors of potential enemies…
Elite Support
cabinet solidarity, economic, military, political and social elites all in agreement for war, war coalition…
Enduring Rivalries
long-term conflict…
Enemy’s Economy
when a potential enemy Nation State’s economy starts to surpass one’s own Nation States economy…
Enemy’s Enemy
aiding the enemy of your enemy…
Enemy’s Intent
not being able to ascertain exactly what an enemy has in mind…
Enemy Weaknesses
distractions by fighting other wars, lack of will to fight, lost opportunity cost, overthrow of enemy government, perceived internal strife, unprepared to fight…
Environmental Stress
causing resource stress on a Nation State, climate change, water shortage…
Erroneous Calculations
faulty analysis of information…
Escalating Tensions
caused by two potential belligerents supporting opposing sides in another Nation State’s war…
Escalation Process
the inability of one Nation State to back down from a provocation by another Nation State…
Ethnic Differences
lack of respect for the ‘others’ ethnicity…
Existential Fears
the concern that one’s own Nation State might face extinction…
Expectation Disappointment
when the hopes of a Nation State are prevented by another Nation State…
External Security
as internal security concerns decrease there is a tendency for external security issues to become dominant…
Extreme Emigration
diaspora annexing, huge numbers of immigrants…
Face-Saving Failure
when a Nation State is so humiliated by another Nation State because face-saving alternatives did not present themselves or were unavailable…
Faith
in doing what is right, that we will win, that God is on our side…
False Hope
when a Nation State believes its probable enemy Nation State will agree to negotiation and offer terms favorable to itself…
False Optimism
belief in victory, of the high cost of war…
Faulty Concepts
when policymakers and military planners are acting on unstable theories of action, when decision makers inaccurately believe that war is inevitable…
Fawning Advisors
when support staff agrees with their superiors even when they that their superiors are wrong…
Fear
of conquest by ‘others’, of relative decline, of a surprise attack…
Financial Gain
when elites economically benefit from war…
First Move Advantage
striking first in order to have an advantage in waging war…
Force Projection
the ability of a Nation State to have a military presence away from their own country that could lead to conflict because of proximity…
Forgetting
when memory fades about the destruction of war…
Fragile Structures
fragility has five principal sources: a centralized governing system, an undiversified economy, excessive debt and leverage, a lack of political variability, and no history of surviving past shocks…
Generational Conflict
interest in conflict passing from one generation to the next…
Geographic Proximity
when one state borders on another there is a likelihood that some disagreement will trigger conflict…
Geography
geographical circumscription, geographic vulnerability…
Government Propaganda
statements of the government supporting the idea of war…
Grievance Narrative
complaining about both perceived and real wrongs…
Growth Rate Inequalities
industrial, demographic…
Group Identification
we are right, they are wrong…
Groupthink
internal pressure to agree…
Halting Aggression
to help stop a local war before it spreads though out the region, the idea that an ideology is taking hold, i.e. communism, Islamism, and that it needs to be stopped anywhere and all of the time…
Hardliners
use of force over diplomacy, war hawks…
Harsh Peace Terms
when a Nation State loses an earlier war is given bleak and bitter terms of peace thus provoking a war of revenge against its former victor…
Hegemonic Aspirations
the belief that our time has come…
Hegemonic Decline
distribution of power concerns…
Hegemonic Imperative
the goal of Nation States to achieve effective political control of their geographic region…
Historical Memory
past conflicts still creating hatred…
Honor
the psychological need for respect and prestige…
Hostility Escalation
a small skirmish gets out of control…
Hubris
when a Nation State demonstrates an obnoxious attitude of reckless arrogance and superiority toward another Nation State…
Humiliation
when a Nation State feels it has been taken advantage of by another Nation State…
Ideological Rivalries
ethnic, political, racial, religious, sectarian genocide…
Imperialism
need for foreign colonies to support economic interests…
Imperialist Tendencies
when a Nation State aggressively attacks another territory in order to control it…
Improvisational Reactions
when a Nation State acts in an impulsive way that does not seem well thought out but attempts to protect against some fear…
Impulsive Behavior
when policymakers and military planners act with due consideration of the consequences…
Independence
from colonialism-imperialism…
Inferior Enemy
the feeling of superiority to the racial, religious or class of a potential enemy…
Investment Loss
the need not to give up too soon after expending significant amount of human energy and treasure…
Influence
the fear of losing the power to pressure and control another Nation State…
Information Aversion
when policymakers and military planners to not listen to facts that contradict their views…
Information Scarcity
when policymakers and military planners do not have enough information to make a rational decision and decide to wage war regardless…
Insecurity
feeling that a potential enemy might be planning something…
Intelligence Failure
wrong or misleading information, worst-case analysis…
Interests
when a Nation State’s economic, military, political and/or their social interests are threatened by the attitudes and behavior of a potential enemy Nation State…
Internal Revolt
one group within a Nation State rebels and seeks its freedom, the major ally defending the group against its overlord…
International Law
going to war to uphold international standards…
Intransigents
when one or both sides of a major dispute refuse to alter their conditions and/or positions…
Intuitions
when policymakers and military planners rely more on their intuitions than on the facts…
Issue Disputes
indivisibilities…
Kinsmen Protection
living in foreign lands…
Legal Justification
domestic law suits and their subject relationship to legality for war…
Leader’s Charisma
popularity of a leader, staff unwilling to challenge a leader…
Leader’s Emotions
aggressive instincts, ambition, anger, commitment, distrust, dominance, ego, emotional desperation, envy/jealousy, frustration, greed, hatred, honor, hubris, hardliners, humiliation, inflammatory statements, insecurity, insults, overconfidence, paranoia and other mental illnesses, personal animosity, prestige, pride, right to rule, risk taking personality, reputation, self-interest, selfishness, stress, suspicion, vengeance…
Leadership Vulnerability
domestic diversion…
Legal Justification
domestic law suits and their relationship to legality for war…
Lessons Learned
used correctly or incorrectly…
Liberation
de-colonization from oppression…
Living Space
population pressures, territorial expansion…
Logistical/Strategic Plans
often plans are self-generating leading to out of control consequences…
Loss of Ally
the wavering or potential loss of an important strategic ally…
Loss of Power
Nation States more concerned with gains and loses rather than the current power they possess…
Loss of Temper
when diplomacy stops because of high emotions and fighting begins…
Masculinity Genes
the fact that men tend to start wars more than women…
Media Enthusiasm
various media supporting and pushing for war…
Militarism
the lack of civilian control over issues of war and peace, valuing war as a means of conflict resolution…
Militarization
of domestic government, military concerns dictating political policies…
Military Base Protection
when a Nation State acts aggressively in order to protect or secure a foreign base of operations…
Military Buildup
actual plans and preparations for war…
Military Budget
a growing and large amount of spending on the armed forces…
Military Deployment
moving in place military personnel close to a potential enemy’s border…
Military Immaturity
when capabilities exceed carefully constructed doctrine…
Military-Industrial Complex
power gain/economic gain…
Military Power
simply having the means to conduct a successful war…
Military Response Failure
government not responding to military threats…
Military Rule
effective control of the government by the armed forces…
Minor Incident Escalation
a small accident results in retaliation…
Miscalculation
faulty analysis, risk of inaction greater than risk of action, time not on our side…
Misguided Calculation
when a Nation State attempts various diplomatic maneuvers and sanctions in an atmosphere of excessive reasoning when passion is driving the decisions of its potential enemy Nation State…
Misperception
false judgment regarding attitude, behaviors and capabilities, deceptive information, disputed power relationships, false optimism, non-rational decision making, misreading the character, intent and resolve of an adversary, non-existent threats, relative bargaining position, underestimate enemy, of the wars outcome…
Misrepresentation Incentives
need for deception and denial…
Mistrust
of geopolitical intent, conflict and friction leading to mistrust, lack of trust because of previous actions…
Misunderstanding
simply not comprehending a situation due to lack of information or cognitive difficulties…
Mobilization
preparation for war, rapid mobilizing of forces…
Moral Outrage
we are right/good, they are wrong/bad…
Moral Superiority
the feeling that one’s own Nation State is superior in ideals and values than a potential enemy Nation State…
Multilateral Interactions
where every potential agreement is blocked by some coalition of states or constituencies who can derail it…
Multipolar World
the risk of war is greater when many Nation States have power than when just one or two Nation States have power control…
Myths
when a Nation State’s folklore and legends that exist in peoples collective imagination and that create unity of beliefs and emotions make its citizens think that they and their country are special and blessed as opposed to other Nation States…
Narrative Influence
when a Nation State’s fiction and non-fiction media writers produce popular stories about a future war with a potential enemy…
National Power and Prestige
the euphoric feeling of a Nation States place in the world…
Nationalistic Fervor
extreme patriotic tendencies, national myths, need for respect…
Navigation Freedom
concern over ocean lanes of communication for trade and military reasons…
Neo-Conservatism
neocons, seeing issues in terms of black and white – good and evil, eliminating certain ideologies such as Fascism, Nazism, Communism etc…
Non-Recognition
the feeling that leaders and citizens might have of not receiving the respect they think they deserve…
Nuclear Proliferation
non-nuclear Nation States obtaining nuclear weapons…
Nuclear Threats
when a Nation State thinks it might be attacked by the nuclear bombs of a potential enemy Nation State…
Offensive Capability
when a Nation State has a strong military ready to engage in armed conflict…
Offensive Preemptive Attack
first strike advantage…
Offshore Balancing
when a Nation State needs to intervene against a distant potential regional hegemon in order to maintain a balance of power in that foreign region…
Opportunity Perception
ability to win a war based on superior economy and weaponry, perceived weakness of enemy, waging aggressive war because one has the ability to do so,…
Opportunity Window
when a Nation State takes advantage of the weakness of other Nation States to seize territory…
Optimism
when a Nation State thinks it will easily win a war…
Option Limitations
when the choice for war is less onerous than alternatives, a cost-benefit type of analysis…
Over-Compensation
a weak earlier response therefore disappointing domestic support and foreign allies…
Over-Confidence
mistaken belief that we are stronger than they are, optimism, when policymakers and military planners think they know more than they do…
Over-Reaction
to strategic threats…
Paranoia
an unreasonable feeling of threat…
Patriotism
feelings of kinship, mutual citizenship…
Peace Establishment
conduct war to guarantee peace…
Peacetime Under-Confidence
believing that one’s potential enemy is stronger than they are…
Political Credibility
the need to show the domestic public that the government is willing to defend the rights of the Nation State even if it means conducting armed conflict…
Political Distraction
domestic diversionary tactic…
Political Extremism
belief that it is necessary to convert others to your political system…
Politicized Intelligence
telling policymakers what they want to know…
Policy Hubris
when decision makers think that their foreign policy moves will not result in war, but in fact do…
Population Growth
pressure for land and resources…
Power Discrepancies
when Nation States disagree about their relative balance of power, the concern for hegemony…
Power Vacuum
when a hegemon withdraws from a region thereby creating space for another potential hegemon to move in…
Power Ratios
the relative power relationships between Nation States in a multipolar system can determine a critical cause of war, the most important ratio is between the two most powerful Nation States in the system…
Preemptive Attack
enemy attack imminent, first strike advantage…
Preparedness
the overall state of readiness of the military and civilian communities…
Prestige Loss
lack of respect…
Presumption of Success
the belief that victory will be ours…
Preventive Attack
conduct a fait accompli, first strike advantage, window of opportunity/ vulnerability…
Prevention Weakness
lack of military prowess of an enemy…
Previous Military Actions
history of other attacks and wars…
Problem Solving
war can solve the Nation State’s various problems…
Prospect Theory
decision-makers and military planners take likely to take less risk about gaining an advantage and more risk about losing an advantage…
Protection of Assets
to protect national assets in a foreign Nation State…
Protection of Debts
to protect foreign debts in an endangered Nation State…
Protection of Interests
aggressive behavior in order to send a message…
Provocations
acting in a threatening way…
Proximity
Nation States that are neighbors are more likely to wage war against each other than Nation States that are distant from others…
Psychological Needs
for, among other things, honor, respect, recognition and equal authority…
Public Anger
when the people in a Nation State feel unfairness, resentments and envy related to their place in the world as opposed to others…
Public Opinion
extreme mass passions, popular support for war…
Racial Differences
our race is better than yours, supporting a similar race in a foreign war…
Reciprocal Reactions
responding to the others moves…
Redress Wrongs
when a Nation State feels it has been betrayed by other Nation States in the past and wants to seek revenge and rectitude…
Regime Change
their present leadership threatens our Nation State…
Relative Power
one’s own Nation State is stronger than a potential enemy…
Religion
when a Nation State identifies itself with one religion and considers another religion the enemy…
Religious Fanaticism
exporting religious revolution, our religion is the best and only one, the others are blasphemous…
Religious Sites
anger caused over denied access and/or desecration of religious places of worship…
Reputation at Stake
when a nation-states commits to an aggressive policy, even though in the future that policy might change, but because of reputation, aggressive action will still take place…
Reputation Weakness
erosion of trust from allies, loss of power status…
Resource Cumulativity
when the control of its resources enables a Nation State to acquire or protect other resources…
Resource Indivisibilities
so that not all potentially mutually beneficial bargaining agreements are feasible…
Resources Needs
allocation differentials, coal, gas, oil, iron, oil, other minerals, water, food…
Response Negativity
lack of response to positive moves, negative response…
Retaliation
the necessity to conduct a counter-attack…
Revenge
when a Nation State feels it has been abused by another Nation State and wants to strike back, to satisfy hatred and to get even…
Righting Wrongs
enforce moral or legal penalties…
Rising Power
when a potential enemy Nation State grows very strong over a period of time…
Risk Taking
when policymakers and military planners take unnecessary risks when prudence is called for, the propensity to take risks given certain circumstances, framing of choices in a way that promotes willingness to take risks…
Secessionist Movements
seek union with ethnic kin in adjoining territories…
Security Competition
leading to the goal of becoming a regional hegemon…
Security Dilemma
defensive arming because of fear of an enemy causes the enemy to offensively increase arms and preemptively attack, where a defensive action taken by a state can be perceived by another as an act threatening its survival…
Self Confidence
when policymakers and military planners have more confidence in their own judgment than listening to the advice of others…
Self Defense
the feeling that an enemy is about to attack or has already attacked…
Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
assuming the worst about each other and acting and reacting accordingly, strongly held beliefs that are emphasized over facts…
Secession
from an existing political Nation State…
Short War Syndrome
the belief and hope that a war can be won quickly, when it cannot…
Social Darwinism
the belief that it is correct to transfer the concept of the struggle for survival from the experience of species in nature to that of Nation States, countries that do not follow this principle will parish…
Soft Targets
weak enemies…
Sovereign Independence
the control and freedom of the Nation State, holding on to potential breakaway sections…
Status Discrepancy
prestige not consistent with actual economic and military capabilities…
Stereotyping
assuming that no matter what a Nation State does it always means harm…
Strategic Objectives
overall approaches to geopolitical issues…
Subjective Interpretations
of facts…
Subversion of Enemy
when an adversary uses propaganda to attack the beliefs of its potential enemy…
Suspicion
when a Nation State believes that the attitudes and behaviors of a potential enemy Nation State demonstrate a fear, hatred or a plan against the interests of that Nation State…
Tactical Nuclear Weapons
believing that one could use small scale nuclear weapons and avoid escalation to the use of strategic nuclear weapons…
Tariffs
high taxes on imports that weaken the economy of potential enemy Nation States…
Technical Breakthrough
when a Nation State finds out that a potential enemy Nation State has made a tactical military technical advance that could expose it to a new and unforeseen danger…
Territorial Disputes
extending natural frontiers, manifest destiny, territorial provocations, this land belongs to us…
the ‘Other’
they are different therefore they are dangerous and we don’t like them, self-image that denigrates the Other…
Third Party Neutrality
a strong nation that could influence a war stays neutral…
Third Party Support
a strong ally is available to support the war…
Time Constraints
attack now rather than later since the enemy is growing stronger, time running out…
Threats
perceived and real…
Trade
the need to assure that all lines of communication regarding trade are kept open and that there might be a need to prevent other Nation States from accessing the various trade routes, controlling roads, seas that lead to needed goods and/or resources, commercial dominance…
Trade Restrictions
free trade/low tariffs vs. protectionism/high tariffs, too harsh sanctions…
Translation Confusion
when decision makers and military planners do not understand or misinterpret the meaning of language of a probable enemy Nation State…
Treaty
an obligation that a Nation State must go to war with an alliance partner…
Treaty Breakdown
when a Nation State changes, abandons or violates a treaty with another Nation State or there are basic misunderstandings of the meaning of the treaty…
Treaty Failures
those that are written up too much in favor of the victors, unreasonable demands – i.e. Treaty of Versailles…
Ultimatums
threats of the use of armed force…
Uncertainty
fear of what is not known, when a Nation State does not know or worries about what a potential enemy Nation State plans are or what that enemy might actually do…
Underestimating the Enemy
thinking that the enemy is incapable or unwilling to wage a successful war, the feeling of hubris tends to make one think they are better than they are and that their enemies are not so strong…
Underestimated Risks
when policymakers and military planners do not properly analyze the actions they are taking, the fact that people are generally less risk averse when contemplating losses than when contemplating gains…
Unexpected Circumstances
chance – good luck and bad luck…
Unification
cultural, historic reasons, racial, religious, supporting our minorities in enemy Nation States…
Unintended Consequences
when a Nation State reacts aggressively to an event that was unforeseen at the time…
Unrelenting Enemy
an opposing force that keeps on coming, the domino theory…
Unsettled Previous Wars
failure to resolve conflicting issues by the way a former war ended…
Verbal Insults
abusive remarks…
Vested Interests
powerful political, economic and social interest elites…
Victim Psychosis
feelings of victimization caused by another people…
Vulnerability Perception
time is against a Nation State when it comes to a decision to wage war…
War Duration
the belief that a war will be short and victorious…
War Memory Recedes
overtime the horrors of war fades away…
Warmongers
individuals who are enthusiastic about waging war…
War Plans
existing plans to conduct war against potential enemies…
Weak State Rising
the aggressive tendency that a Nation State exhibits when it rises to major power status…
Wealth
when Nation States become rich they then can become powerful and are concerned with their security therefore enhancing the possibility of war…
Wealth Inequalities
we are poor, they are rich/that’s unfair…
Wishful Thinking
believing in what one wants to believe, false optimism, the war will be short and victorious…
WMD Concerns
worry that an enemy would use or sell weapons of mass destruction…
Worst Case Scenarios
believing that a potential enemy is in fact an enemy preparing for armed conflict…
Causes of War – Civil War:
Ethnic, Racial, Religious Differences
identity imperatives…
Greed Motivation
the making of money…
Poverty
inequality breeding anger and frustration…
Weak Nation States
primary causal factor…
For additional analysis please refer to the Bibliography.