Abstract
What would a general theory of the role of warfare and coercion in human society look like? As an initial, stark hypothesis, I would propose a new law of three stages: at first, violence was contingent and optional. In a second stage, violence became pervasive, mandatory and normative. Military skills become central to the dominant ethos. In the third stage, which we are at present entering, violence becomes once again optional, counter-productive, and probably fatal.
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References
S. Andreski (previously Andrzejewski), Military Organisation and Society (London: Routledge, 1954).
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Cf. a remarkable survey of these issues by Carl Kaysen, ‘Is War Obsolete?’, International Security, Spring 1990, Vol. 14, no. 4.
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© 1992 Robert A. Hinde
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Gellner, E. (1992). An Anthropological View of War and Violence. In: Hinde, R.A. (eds) The Institution of War. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-21707-6_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-21707-6_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-21709-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-21707-6
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