Revolution and War

Revolution within a state almost invariably leads to intense security competition between states, and often to war. In Revolution and War, Stephen M. Walt explains why this is so.

Walt has written a book to ponder, and to value. It enriches our understanding of the causes of war, and suggests how—in conditions still relevant to us—we might hope to avoid it.

Walt finds balance-of-threat theory the most plausible explanation for the wars that follow... large-scale upheavals.... In his concluding policy recommendations, Walt argues that with revolution, neither appeasement nor intervention is appropriate for foreign leaders. Revolutions are practically impossible to export and very difficult to reverse. Optimism that liberal capitalism means an end to revolution is unwarranted, Walt observes, given religious fundamentalism, cultural diversity, and the emergence of protest movements. A detailed, valuable work.

Academic tradition separates revolution and war.... Walt defies that tradition in his sober, well-reasoned new book. The result is a worthy exploration of these two most important, and most dangerous, political events—and particularly of how revolution can lead to war.

Jack Snyder, Columbia University:

Stephen M. Walt has once again written a landmark work of social science. The war-prone nature of revolutionary states has been noted, but never adequately explained. It is not, says Walt, that such regimes want to export their revolution out of the barrel of a gun. Rather, they and their status quo neighbors get caught in a conflict spiral fueled by a paradoxical mix of insecurity and overconfidence. In unraveling the causes of this spiral, Walt uses the dramatic history of the French, Russian, and Iranian revolutions to reveal the subtle interplay of power, perceptions, and domestic politics that shapes international relations.

Charles Tilly, New School for Social Research:

Controversial and valuable because it so directly and clearly challenges major ideas in the dominant view of international relations.