PP230 Lecture 9: Part 4: Proposals for World Peace
Document Summary
We tend to think of the war system as a system based entirely on self- interest. Each side arms itself to defend vital interests, with little or no regard for the interests of another side. However, minimal levels of cooperation seem possible even within the war system. To see this, we begin by focussing on the policies that have lead to our present situation. We consider whether these nuclearized defence policies make war obsolete. In light of this, we consider the deterrence policies of mcnamara and narveson in which minimum levels of weaponry are emphasized. Following this, we examine the grit (graduated and reciprocated initiatives in tension reduction) strategy of osgood, which is designed to foster cooperation and reduce fear. The deterrence policy of the former superpowers was based on fear and threat. Each side threatened to retaliate with its offensive weapons if the other side uses its weapons.
