Explaining War and Peace: Case Studies and Necessary Condition Counterfactuals (Contemporary Security Studies) - Tapa dura

Giovanni Sartori Award for the Best Book Published in 2007 Developing or Applying Qualitative Methods - Honorable Mention

'...an impressive collection of essays that survey the ways in which necessary conditions counterfactuals are used in the logics of causal explanation, particularly in explanations of international conflict. The work represents an important contribution to the study of methods in general and usefully develops some central concepts in qualitative research. The substantive focus also helps to elucidate the more abstract theoretical discussions.'
Newsletter of the American Political Science Association

This edited volume focuses on the use of ‘necessary condition counterfactuals’ in explaining two key events in twentieth century history, the origins of the First World War and the end of the Cold War.

Containing essays by leading figures in the field, this book analyzes the causal logics of necessary and sufficient conditions, demonstrates the variety of different ways in which necessary condition counterfactuals are used to explain the causes of individual events, and identifies errors commonly made in applying this form of causal logic to individual events. It includes discussions of causal chains, contingency, critical junctures, and ‘powder keg’ explanations, and the role of necessary conditions in each.

Explaining War and Peace will be of great interest to students of qualitative analysis, the First World War, the Cold War, international history and international relations theory in general.