2.12.08 - Explaining War General Outline of this Lecture...

Explaining War 2.12.08-2.14.08
General Outline of this Lecture
• Explanation in social science
• Explaining war at different levels of analysis
o The individual level of analysis
o The state level of analysis
o The systemic level of analysis
• War as a bargaining process
The Role of “Theory”
• Theory: an abstract account of a causal process
o Why is theory necessary?
o What makes a theory “scientific”?
 Plausible casual process
 Observable implications
 Falsifiability
o Choosing among competing theories
 Is it scientific?
 Simplicity of the theory
 Usefulness
o Limits of social science
Explaining War at Different Levels of Analysis
• The problem of war and the study of international relations
• What are “levels of analysis”?
• Three “images” in international relations
o First image: The individual level of analysis
The Individual Level of Analysis
• The “Devil” Theory: bad individuals cause wars
o A simple but problematic explanation
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