New Books in Sociology

On Wars: A Discussion with Michael Mann

Oct 31, 2023

Michael Mann, Professor of Sociology Emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses the irrationality of war and challenges the rational aspect of war-making states. Topics include the conflict in Israel-Palestine, the Russian-Ukraine war, the role of the state in causing war, religious differences, American involvement in wars, and the current state of military violence.

55:36

Episode guests

Michael Mann

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Wars are often the result of miscalculations by over-confident rulers with little regard for their own people.

Religious convictions and a lust for revenge can drive wars.

Deep dives

Key Point 1: The fascination with war and the motivation behind writing the book

The author discusses his fascination with war and the motivation behind writing the book. He explains that his previous work focused on military power, but he wanted to delve deeper into the causes of wars and the irrationality behind them. He found that wars are mainly irrational and rarely produce positive results.

Introduction

2min

The Title of 'On Wars'

7min

Understanding the Ongoing Conflict between Israel and Palestine

6min

The Role of the State in International Relations and War

4min

Religious Differences and Ancient Claims

8min

The War in Ukraine and Comparisons to the Israel-Palestine Conflict

13min

American Involvement in Wars: Lessons from the Past

4min

War, Violence, and Global Power

9min

“Irrationality rules” in war, Michael Mann writes in his magisterial 2023 book, On Wars (Yale UP, 2023), a history that begins with the Roman Republic and ancient China and works its way through the world wars of the 20th century and up to present times. Mann is a Professor of Sociology Emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles. His irrationality thesis, which posits that many wars are the product of miscalculations by over-confident rulers with little regard for their own people, offers an insightful and persuasive challenge to the Realist school on war, which stresses a rational aspect to the designs of war-making states. Then, too, Mann notes, wars can be driven by religious convictions and by a lust for revenge. Our conversation touches on the conflict in Israel-Palestine reignited by the Hamas massacre of Israeli civilians in October, 2023 as well as on the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war launched by Vladimir Putin in February, 2022.

Veteran journalist Paul Starobin is a former Moscow bureau chief for Business Week and a former contributing editor of The Atlantic. He has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and many other publications. His latest book, Putin’s Exiles: Their Fight for a Better Russia (Columbia Global Reports) will be published in January.

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