Customer Reviews

Liberal Peace, Liberal War: American Politics and International Security (Cornell Studies in Security Affairs)

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Brooks conducts research that shows and explains why liberal democracies are peaceful to likeminded societies. Specifically Brooks purports to show that perceptions among societal elites and the citizenry determine the likelihood that nations experiencing political conflict will go to war. Brooks cites numerous case studies from the early 18th century until the Spanish-American War to support his hypothesis. What is apparent from the research is that war is dependent on the perceptions that opposing poltical elites have regarding the level of representative governance in the adversarial nation. For example, the USA did not initiate war with Spain in the middle 18th century because Americans did not want to undermine the nascent republican government in Spain. Similarly, wars with Great Britain in the middle 18th century were averted because influential sectors of the British society viewed America's republican government as non-threatening and admirable, particularly after the elimination of slavery. In contrast, the USA went to war with Spain in the late 18th century because the monarchy had secured power from the republicans. Likewise, the US went to war with both France and Great Britain in the early 18th century because American Federalists considered the French despotic while the Republicans felt the British monarchy equally oppressive.

In sum, an interesting book that does a good job explaining the hypothesis in early chapters and later cites case studies to examine the validity and reliability of the hypothesis of liberal peace with like minded societies.

Liberal Peace, Liberal war gives an intriguing look into the thought processes of liberal countries in concern to peaceful and conflictual relations with other countries that it sees to be either liberal or illiberal. This books give a new approach to the role of national values and institutions in shaping of foreign policy.

Excellent work. Clearly defines how the word "liberal" is applied and how other institutions and players utitize the word to describe their posturing and tactics. Once he has you clearly understanding just exactly what "liberal" is, at least in his application, there isn't a muddy sentence in the whole work. Extremely well written, concise, no ambiguity. Clearly defines a logical path to systems of application that are rational for today's world.