Explaining War and Peace Case Studies and Necessary Condition Counterfactuals [Paperback]

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

1. Introduction  2. Causal Explanation, Necessary Conditions, and Case Studies  3. The Role of Necessary Conditions in the Outbreak of World War I  4. Contingency, Catalysts and Non-Linear Change: The Origins of World War I  5. Powder Kegs, Sparks and World War I  6. Necessary Conditions and World War I as an Unavoidable War  7. Power, Globalization, and the End of the Cold War: Reevaluating a Landmark Case for Ideas  8. Perestroika without Politics: How Realism Misunderstands the Cold Wars End  9. New versus Old Thinking in Qualitative Research  10. Conclusions

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 ls=