The Remnants of War

Mueller argues that war is an idea, like dueling or slavery, that has been substantially discredited, reduced to its remnants—or dregs—and thugs are the residual combatants.

John Mueller is Ralph D. Mershon Senior Research Scientist and Woody Hayes Chair of National Security Studies Emeritus at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies at Ohio State University, where he is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Political Science. He is the author or editor of many books, including Terror, Security, and Money: Balancing the Risks, Benefits, and Costs of Homeland Security; War and Ideas: Selected Essays; Atomic Obsession: Nuclear Alarmism from Hiroshima to Al-Qaeda; Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them; and Capitalism, Democracy, and Ralph’s Pretty Good Grocery.

New York Times Book Review: "If you could require the president to read one book, what would it be?" Steven Pinker: "John Mueller's The Remnants of War explains how warfare has changed over the course of history, and how to deal with the remnants today."

Since around 1700, humanity has increasingly opposed violence of all kinds, Ohio State policy analyst Mueller argues. For him, war is an idea, like dueling or slavery, that over time became embedded in human behavior, and whose appeal and legitimacy are now in profound decline. Better quality of life, the expansion of democracy, the development of international norms and institutions, and increasingly destructive war-making technologies are major factors. Yet if war is declining, warfare persists in the form of domestic conflicts that Mueller regards as a consequence of inadequate governments. Mueller's solution proposes to improve states' policing efficiency and effectiveness, making them better able to deal with what he calls 'residual warfare' within their borders.

Stathis N. Kalyvas:

Mueller's is a sweeping, multifaceted, and complex argument that speaks to multiple research programs in political science, generates several policy recommendations, and addresses central issues of our time. I found the parts on the decline of major war, in particular, to be absolutely fascinating, and the effort to conceptualize violent conflict on a continuum going from small crime to terrorism to be very stimulating. In short, this is a nice example of a rich and erudite book that speaks to a larger public without sacrificing scholarly thoroughness.

Jeremy Suri:

Mueller's book is smart and provocative, and it should inspire a wider examination of how warfare has changed, as a whole, over the last century.

Mueller argues that war is similar to slavery, as both an institution and a belief. As such, major war, like slavery, has been condemned by developed nations and certainly after the Cold War has been used rarely.... Well researched and well organized, with clear, original arguments..., this thought-provoking piece will have tremendous policy implications as nations, especially the United States, structure their militaries to deal with these smaller policing actions.

Claire Thomas:

It is refreshing to read a book about war that is optimistic and hopeful. John Mueller's The Remnants of War is both of these things. His thesis is that the idea of war is going the same way as the idea of slavery—it is becoming obsolete.... He argues that there is evidence that good governance is spreading, and that policing wars are increasingly unattractive.

Gregg Easterbrook:

A brilliantly original and urgent book.

Richard Rosecrance, University of California, Los Angeles:

John Mueller has written another extremely stimulating and suitably cantankerous book.

Michael Mandelbaum, Christian A. Herter Professor of American Foreign Policy, The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and author of The Ideas That Conquered the World: Peace, Democracy and Free Markets in the Twenty-First Century:

In this book John Mueller charts the continuing decline of one of the oldest and most important of all human practices. The Remnants of War is a powerful and provocative account of the fate of war in our time.