What Is War For?

This book examines how changes to social rules reshape how states explain their military actions, and changes to technology and society transform contemporary warfare. Analysing the role that war serves in global politics, it outlines the ways in which war affects the contemporary world, from international relations to our day-to-day lives. How does armed conflict shape global politics? And, critically, can it ever be regulated, a necessary first step to achieving a more peaceful world? This book examines the factors that define and shape war in the contemporary world, and how changes to technology and society are transforming warfare. Focusing on efforts to regulate and eliminate war, it provides a guide to the complex problems it poses now – and threatens in the future.