Synopsis
A foundational IR text classifying explanations of war into three images: human nature, the internal makeup of states, and the anarchic international system.
Core passage idea
Paraphrase · Modern copyrighted workWars recur not mainly because of evil people or bad regimes, but because nothing above states forces them to keep the peace.
It locates the deepest cause of war in international anarchy, founding the structural approach to world politics.
To avoid a bubble
Pair with Kant, Perpetual Peace.
Reading note
Read it analytically; the three images are a framework you will use long after.
Best paired with
Kant, Perpetual Peace