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Grasping the Democratic Peace: Principles for a Post-Cold War World by Bruce Russett β€” book cover

Grasping the Democratic Peace: Principles for a Post-Cold War World

by Bruce Russett
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Overview

By illuminating the conflict-resolving mechanisms inherent in the relationships between democracies, Bruce Russett explains one of the most promising developments of the modern international system: the striking fact that the democracies that it comprises have almost never fought each other.

Is Communism's collapse merely the passing of a lethal adversarial relationship between the super powers--or an extraordinary chance to make fundamental changes in how nations resolve conflicts? In this far-reaching study, Russett discusses periods of "democratic peace" and the relationships between democracies.

Synopsis

By illuminating the conflict-resolving mechanisms inherent in the relationships between democracies, Bruce Russett explains one of the most promising developments of the modern international system: the striking fact that the democracies that it comprises have almost never fought each other.

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Editorials

Foreign Affairs

Russett finds this [the proposition that democracies do not fight each other] to be an extraordinarily robust conclusion.... [The book] presents a challenge to realists while providing a rigorous undergirding to what has become a widespread view.
β€” Francis Fukuyama

Survival

The ambition and scope of the study provides the illuminating and unexpected insights into the relationships between war and democracy.
β€” Roland Dannreuther

International Studies Review

The descriptive phase of scholarly research on the absence of war between democratic dyads has been largely completed, and attention is now shifting to alternative explanations for this well-confirmed empirical generalization. The best place to begin, both for a summary of the descriptive evidence and for an attempt to explain it, is Bruce Russett's Grasping the Democratic Peace.
β€” Jack S. Levy

American Political Science Review

Bruce Russett's laudable book summarizes, dissects, and expands our understanding of the disinclination shown by democracies to fight each other, a finding that has spawned a minor cottage industry of analytic studies. . . . the book combines rigor and relevance, maturity and originality. . . .

The Journal of Politics

In Grasping the Democratic Peace, Bruce Russett has published a powerful book clarifying the theoretical debate and producing additional support for the relative pacifism of democracies from previously untapped sources. The book will quickly claim a secure place in the literature for its insight and empirical originality. No student of international relations can fail to profit from a close read.
β€” David A. Lake

Foreign Affairs - Francis Fukuyama

Russett finds this [the proposition that democracies do not fight each other] to be an extraordinarily robust conclusion.... [The book] presents a challenge to realists while providing a rigorous undergirding to what has become a widespread view.

Survival - Roland Dannreuther

The ambition and scope of the study provides the illuminating and unexpected insights into the relationships between war and democracy.

International Studies Review - Jack S. Levy

The descriptive phase of scholarly research on the absence of war between democratic dyads has been largely completed, and attention is now shifting to alternative explanations for this well-confirmed empirical generalization. The best place to begin, both for a summary of the descriptive evidence and for an attempt to explain it, is Bruce Russett's Grasping the Democratic Peace.

The Journal of Politics - David A. Lake

In Grasping the Democratic Peace, Bruce Russett has published a powerful book clarifying the theoretical debate and producing additional support for the relative pacifism of democracies from previously untapped sources. The book will quickly claim a secure place in the literature for its insight and empirical originality. No student of international relations can fail to profit from a close read.

The Journal of Politics - -David A. Lake


In Grasping the Democratic Peace, Bruce Russett has published a powerful book clarifying the theoretical debate and producing additional support for the relative pacifism of democracies from previously untapped sources. The book will quickly claim a secure place in the literature for its insight and empirical originality. No student of international relations can fail to profit from a close read.

Book Details

Published
November 29, 1994
Publisher
Princeton University Press
Pages
184
ISBN
9781400821020

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