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Causes of War




  Goes beyond timing of wars

  This work is in progress, subject to change
 
(Previous slide) Causes of War
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(Next slide) Sources of visceral fears
Visceral causes of crisis wars


  Recognizing the visceral causes
-   Mid-cycle wars are political - top-down - reasoning
-   Crisis wars are visceral, instinctive, unreasoning, emotional
-   Visceral motivations occur once every 70-90 year cycle

  Signs of visceral hatred
-   Genocide, mass murder, mass rape, rape with bottles
-   Desire for vengeance
-   Fear that nation or way of life is in danger
 
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Sources of visceral fears


  Isolating causes of visceral fears
-   Example: Americans after 9/11 vs London 1943
-   Example: Causes of American Civil War
-   Visceral fears arise only in generational crisis periods

  Threats lead to visceral fears
-   Threat of invasion
-   Threat of terrorism
-   Threat of starvation
-   Threat of disease (e.g., black plague)
-   Threat of internal insurrection
-   Threat of government violence
-   Perception of threat may be irrational (crisis periods)
-   Applies to large masses of people during crisis periods
 
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Results of visceral fears - war


  Provoking visceral fears
-   Applies to large masses of people during crisis periods
-   Surprise terrorist attack
-   Assassination
-   Outbreak of disease
-   Sudden increase in price of food or rent or taxes
-   Sudden loss of job or income
-   Tariff law or oil embargo causing unemployment
-   Note: That's why even non-violent acts can be thought of as acts of war

  Visceral fear -> Visceral hatred -> War
-   'Enemy' executes hostile surprise - violent or non-violent
-   Feel visceral fear - may be irrational
-   Determine threat causing visceral fear - may be irrational
-   Assign cause or fault to threat as 'enemy' - may be irrational
-   Population develops feelings of fear and fury
-   Triggers "them or us" feelings
-   Leads to war
 
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Market-Dominant Minority Economies


  Yale Professor Amy Chua in World on Fire

  Example: 1994 Rwanda genocide
-   Tutsis (14% of population) - market-dominant minority
-   Hutu (85% of population)
-   In 1994, Hutus hacked to death 900K Tutsis in 3 months

  Other examples
-   Chinese are MDM in many countries throughout Southeast Asia
-   Whites are MDM in South Africa
-   Lebanese are MDM in West Africa
-   Ibo are MDM in Nigeria
-   Jews are MDM in post-Communist Russia
 
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(Next slide) The Malthus Effect
Thomas Roberts Malthus


  Essay on Population, published in 1798
-   Population grows geometrically
-   Food supply grows linearly
-   Therefore population will always outstrip food supply

  Corrected rates
-   Population grows exponentially
-   Food supply grows exponentially, at a slower rate than population
-   Therefore population will always outstrip food supply
-   This applies both regionally and globally

  My own estimates
-   Food supply grows at .96% per year, based on USDA wheat yields since 1860
-   Population grows by 1.29% per year, based on UN estimates
-   Population grows by 3-5% in some countries, based on CIA Fact Book
 
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The Malthus Effect


  Nature's methods for reducing population
-   Famine, disease, war
-   20-40 wars on any day in any year
-   Major method is war, not famine

  The Malthus Effect - my phrase for how food scarcity leads to crisis war
-   As time goes on, population grows faster than food supply
-   As time goes on, food becomes relatively scarcer
-   As time goes on, price of food goes up
-   Bowl of rice costs 1 hour labor -> 2 hours -> 3 hours
-   Poverty and starvation lead to humiliation and hatred

  Malthus Effect during non-crisis periods
-   Poverty and starvation lead to looting and low-level violence
-   Low-level violence handled by standard police methods
-   Mid-cycle problems handled with restraint: compromise and containment

  Malthus Effect during crisis periods
-   Looting and low-level violence provoke visceral fears
-   Both sides overreact
-   Looting leads to brinkmanship and increasing demands
-   Reactions involve increased violence and higher visibility
-   Ping-pong hostile surprises lead to war

Copyright © 2002-2016 by John J. Xenakis.