An acclaimed expert on violence and seasoned peacebuilder explains the five reasons why conflict (rarely) blooms into war, and how to interrupt that deadly process. It's easy to overlook the underlying strategic forces of war, to see it solely as a series of errors, accidents, and emotions gone awry. It's also easy to forget that war shouldn't happen-and most of the time it doesn't. Around the world there are millions of hostile rivalries, yet only a tiny fraction erupt into violence. Too many accounts of conflict forget this.With a counterintuitive approach, Blattman reminds us that most rivals loathe one another in peace. That's because war is too costly to fight. Enemies almost always find it better to split the pie than spoil it or struggle over thin slices. So, in those rare instances when fighting ensues, we should ask: what kept rivals from compromise?Why We Fight draws on decades of economics, political science, psychology, and real-world interventions to lay out the root causes and remedies for war, showing that violence is not the norm; that there are only five reasons why conflict wins over compromise; and how peacemakers turn the tides through tinkering, not transformation.From warring states to street gangs, ethnic groups and religious sects to political factions, there are common dynamics to heed and lessons to learn. Along the way, we meet vainglorious European monarchs, African dictators, Indian mobs, Nazi pilots, British football hooligans, ancient Greeks, and fanatical Americans.What of remedies that shift incentives away from violence and get parties back to deal-making? Societies are surprisingly good at interrupting and ending violence when they want to-even the gangs of Medellin do it. Realistic and optimistic, this is book that lends new meaning to the old adage, "Give peace a chance."

AUTHOR PROFILE: Highly regarded expert in crime, poverty, and violence whose work crosses an astonishing range, from an inner-city gang-intervention programs to conflict resolution at the UN. SOCIAL MEDIA: His blog on international affairs has an average of over 1.1 million views per year-more than 3,000 views per day-and has 69,000 followers and 1 million impressions a month on Twitter CATEGORY: Conflict resolution and war studies are both strong, and this book offers an original perspective on what goes right to prevent war.PINKERESQUE: Like Steve Pinker, he has a counterintuitive interpretation of human violence, and like his fellow Canadian, has a strong following with audiences far beyond economists and social scientists. AUDIENCE:Social workers, diplomats, police, aid workers, military personnel, churchgoers heading on mission, or just people who want to make sense of the world-all want the fighting to end. This shows them a way.