POL S 121 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Cuban Missile Crisis, Hegemony, Identity Politics
Document Summary
We have a lot to lose now so war is becoming obsolete. Too much military capacity and possibility for devastation. Survivors of war are expensive they have huge public health concerns, puts stresses on international global economy, soldiers suffer mental/psychological costs. You don"t have to take territory to have a strong economy. Control of resources is less important than participation in the market. The cuban missile crisis was the last best chance for major war. These changes have led to a sense that war is something we should avoid. The end of anarchy both domestically and internationally. States use international trade to increase their extractive capacity, turning into stronger enforcing mechanisms. Every time you go to war, you decrease trade in international system. Now, international trade is about doing better together, not better than opponents. International trade is based upon mutually beneficial outcome. Argues that we have a decline of machismo.
