Is war declining? Why and where?

About the book by Azar Gat "The Causes of War and the Spread of Peace: But Will War Rebound?", Oxford University Press, Oxford 2017

Conclusion: ‘The Western Way in Warfare’, Past and Future

Abstract This conclusion concludes that Liddell Hart's contribution to strategic theory exceeds and is much serious than his popular doctrines of ‘indirect approach’ and the ‘British way in warfare’. It is concluded that his substantial contribution and claim for originality should be examined and understood in their historical context. As fundamental changes and paradigmatic shifts occur, new and significant intellectual constructions usually emerge when the prevailing ways of interpreting and coping with reality no longer suffice. In the West's most liberal and the increasing democratic societies such as the Britain and the United States, the growing negative reaction against the First World War is seen as a paradigmatic break. In these societies, leading sectors of public opinion and political elite see the major war which resulted to major loss of life and wealth as an increasingly unacceptable means. Instead, they called for a different set of strategic ideas wherein the force is applied in terms of economic sanctions, blockade and limited ‘surgical’ operations by highly mobile and technologically superior striking forces.</jats:p

Introduction: ‘The Janus Face’ of Fascism

Abstract The mechanization of warfare emerged along with the developments of the age and along with the emergence of modernist notions and visions spurred by the celebration of machine and the proto-fascist and fascist outlook. This chapter suggest a close affinity that had existed between the radical warfare and the cultural and intellectual currents of proto-fascism and fascism ideology or outlook. Fascism emerged along with industrialization, urbanization, and the growth of the mass society. Its emergence was a result of a rebellion against the dominating bourgeois culture which is dominated by materialism, commercialism, alienating individualism, and the liberal-humanitarian values. Fascism aimed to overcome parliamentarism, capitalism, and socialism through the application of communal solutions which create a unifying effect among the populace. For the proponents of fascism, fascism was the order of the future, superseding the obsolete parliamentary democracy in the new age of modern and industrial mass society. They believed that they would create a fully organized and efficient society, rule by a meritocratic, managerial government of experts. These modernist outlook and the aspects of proto-fascism and fascism are examined in this chapter.</jats:p