Conventional wisdom attributes war to such abstractions as "nationalism," "militarism," "alliance systems," "economic factors," or the most dissatisfying of all, "human nature." Yet though all wars are begun by men, the personality dimensions inherent in every decision to go to war are seldom given their due weight in traditional books on war. Out of a need to know the human truth behind the accepted mechanistic forces grew the concept of this book. The eminent author of Nations in Darkness believes that the quality of individual statesmanship determines whether nations live or die. In six original, provocative, and lucidly written case studies, Dr. Stoessinger examines the critical moments when war became inevitable during this century: At what point did the decision to go to war become irreversible? Who bore the responsibility, and why? Perhaps most crucial, could the disaster have been averted?

The wars chosen are the major international wars of the 20th century. Dr. Stoessinger recaptures the heady atmosphere of July 1914, when the heads of the European powers jockeyed for psychological advantage. He examines Hitler's suicidal decision to invade Russia in 1941, and Stalin's seemingly irrational refusal to admit that he had. Truman's decision to cross the 38th Parallel in Korea and the decisions of five American Presidents to intervene in Indochina come under analysis, as do two of the major religious and social confrontations of all time, the Indo-Pakistani Wars and four Arab-Israeli confrontations.

In this perceptive and provocative survey, a number of themes emerge to form what appears to be an historic new pattern, a paradoxical evolution toward compassion and reality through the horrifying disillusionment of modern warfare. WHY NATIONS GO TO WAR, with its gripping accounts of human fallibility, represents an important advance in our comprehension of man's most terrible self-imposed affliction.