Third World War: System, Process, and Conflict Dynamics

Third World War examines the patterns of political violence throughout the world during the Cold War and analyzes them collectively as conflict processes within the global system. It shows that warfare was not randomly distributed, but was centered on six protracted conflict regions that together accounted for 80 to 90 percent of all forms of political violence during that time - a magnitude of violence that rivals the destruction of the previous two world wars. Through societal theories of identity, conflict, and development dynamics, supported by a broad range of quantitative evidence, the author explores how armed conflict and the politics of insecurity lead to policy changes, arrested development, and, ultimately, state failure. He concludes with policy implications and a brief assessment of the prospects for peace in the global system.