Every War Must End [Paperback]

Professor Fred Charles Iklé (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1991 | ISBN-10: 0231076894 | ISBN-13: 978-0231076890 | Edition: Revised

"Full of eye-openers, arousing wonder at the blindness of generals and statesmen in the past who plunged their nations into war without ever considering the outcome." -- Chicago Tribune

Editorial Reviews

Review

A scholar and former high-ranking official in the Defense Department analyzes the need to develop coherent strategies to end wars.

"Written with skill and clarity and reflects some deeply penetrating thought on the part of the author." -- Military Review

"A book of this kind may be in itself an important contribution to the better operation of the international system and to increasing the probability for peace and diminishing that of war." -- Political Science Quarterly

About the Author

Preface to the Second Revised Edition
Preface to the Revised Edition
1. The Purpose of Fighting
2. The Fog of Military Estimates
3. Peace Through Escalation
4. The Struggle Within: Patriots Against Traitors
5. The Struggle Within: Search for an Exit
Epilogue: Ending Wars Before They Start
Notes
Bibliography on the Termination of Wars
Index

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press; Revised edition (April 15, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231076894
• ISBN-13: 978-0231076890
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,035,533 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's How Wars End That Become Important Afterward, April 6, 2005

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Every War Must End (Columbia Classics) (Paperback)

The twentiety century taught us a lot about wars and how they end. World War I showed us that making strong demands on the defeated (who didn't admit defeat to their own people) set the stage for the next big war.

World War II was fought until the Unconditional Surrender of the Germans and Japanese. Something that thinkers still debate as having made them fight all that harder.

VietNam was fought with no clear end in sight, and "another VietNam" entered our language.

The first Gulf War was ended when Colin Powell and Bush II debated how to end the war. They stopped before they had to go in and see what the Sunni's, Shiite's and Kurds made of the power vacuum left by the removal of Saddam would have created. Bush II is learning about this now.

This is the second revised edition of this book, originally published in 1971 and then updated in 1991 and now 2005 to reflect happenings in new wars.

Still some of the old wars had interesting insights that I didn't know before, such as how Finland, originally on Germany's side against Russia, made a peace with Russia and kicked the Germans out before they became a Russian province. Great Book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent short-book analysis, May 4, 2007

By 

bjcefola (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Every War Must End (Columbia Classics) (Paperback)

This short book is an outstanding analysis of how nations end wars, or accept peace. Ikle shows how governments often prefer obviously self-destructive courses rather then compromise peace terms. The problem is most acute when factional interests dominate strategy rather then a rational unitary interest. In such a circumstance, factions that benefit from continuing the war will accuse those pursuing peace of treason. Sadly, there is no equivalent derogatory word in English for those who pursue war to the detriment of their country.

The book was first written in 1971, and most of the examples are from the two world wars. The work is still extremely relevant, and at 130 pages it's well worth the time.

Highly recommended as a first book to read on ending war.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Complementary readings, August 8, 2009

By 

César González Rouco (Madrid, Madrid Spain) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Every War Must End (Columbia Classics) (Paperback)

There are already three good reviews so I will only suggest reading the following books instead of, or in addition to, this peculiar work: a) "War in human civilization" by Azar Gat; b) "War before Civilization. The Myth of the Peaceful Savage", by Lawrence Keeley; c) "How War Began" by Keith F. Otterbein; d) "War and Peace and War: The Rise and Fall of Empires" by Peter Turchin; and e) "War and the Law of Nations: A General History" by Stephen Neff.