UPDATED!
First Published on Jan 13, 2022
Prof Barbara F. Walter, a leading political scientist studies the substantial increase in violent extremism around the world and warns on the increasing risk of a second civil war in the United States.
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Summary of the Book
In 2018, Barbara F. Walter started researching her book, “How Civil Wars Start and How to Stop Them.” Then, many wondered if it was an “exercise in fear-mongering.” The idea that the United States could find itself sank in another civil war seemed doubtful, even misguided. In 2021, this idea of another civil war does not feel as far-fetched.
Walter’s new book investigates how civil wars start and what they have in common. In her introduction, Walter wrote that Civil wars ignite and escalate in predictable ways; like they follow a script.
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In one of her interviews, Walter talked about the risk factors for a country crumpling and why she is apprehensive about America right now. Generally, civil wars are the biggest danger to world peace today, and Walter's book shows why wars happen and how to avoid them.
According to Barbara F. Walter, over 250-armed conflicts have actively broken out around the globe since 1946, a number that has continued to double over the last two decades. Major civil wars are now being fought in countries such as Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, DRC, Ethiopia, and Libya.
Smaller civil wars are being fought in Ukraine, India, and Malaysia. The United States, Sweden and Ireland are the latest countries showing signs of unrest. Nobody thought these countries could experience another civil war.
In How Civil Wars Start, Barbara F. Walter explains the rise of civil war and the conditions that create it. As democracies across the world backslide and citizens become more polarised, civil wars will likely become even more widespread and last longer than they have in the past.
Political violence rips apart several towns in southwest Texas. A far-right militia plots to kidnap the governor of Michigan and try her for treason. An armed mob of Trump supporters and conspiracy theorists storms the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Are these isolated incidents? Or is this the start of something bigger? Barbara F. Walter has spent her career studying civil conflict in places like Iraq and Sri Lanka, but now she has become increasingly alarmed about her own country.
Conceivably, both autocracies and healthy democracies are largely immune from civil war; the countries in the middle east are most vulnerable. Moreover, this is where more and more countries, including the United States and other big democracies, are finding themselves today.
Walter discloses the alarming signs, where civil wars tend to start, who initiates them, what triggers them, and why some countries tip over into conflict while others remain stable. Drawing on the latest international research and lessons from at least twenty countries, Walter identifies the significant risk factors, from democratic backsliding to factionalization and the politics of indignation.
A civil war today will not look like America in the 1860s, Spain in the 1930s, or Russia in the 1920s. It will begin with sporadic acts of violence and terror, accelerated by social media. It will sneak up on us and leave us wondering how we could have been so blind.
In this urgent and disturbing book, Walter reanalyzes civil war for a new age, providing the framework we need to confront the danger we now face, and the knowledge to stop it before it is too late.
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| How Civil Wars Start and How to Stop Them - Prof. Barbara F. Walter (2022) |
Endorsements
David Remnick, The New Yorker: Like those who spoke up clearly about the dangers of global warming decades ago, Walter delivers a grave message that we ignore at our peril.
Carlos Lozada, The Washington Post: One of the most-discussed titles of the moment.
Jennifer
Szalai, The New York Times: As a political scientist who has
spent her career studying conflicts in other countries, Walter approaches her
work methodically, patiently gathering her evidence before laying out her
case.
David
Remnick, The New Yorker: For the first time in two hundred
years, we are suspended between democracy and autocracy. In addition, that
sense of uncertainty radically heightens the likelihood of episodic
bloodletting in America and even the risk of civil war. This is the compelling
argument of How Civil Wars Start.
Jacob
Hacker, The Washington Post: Walter’s How Civil Wars Start
is the civil-conflict equivalent of How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and
Daniel Ziblatt—a much-needed warning that uses cross-national research to
examine the United States. Given how prescient Levitsky and Ziblatt were, and
how expert Walters is (she is a leading scholar of civil wars), it is a warning
to heed. I have been sceptical of the notion that the United States is on the
verge of another civil war. Walter has made me reconsider. . . . Everyone in
power should read this book immediately.
Michelle
Goldberg, The New York Times: Barbara F. Walter, a political
scientist at the University of California, San Diego, has interviewed many
people who have lived through civil wars, and she told me they all say they did
not see it coming. . . . This is worth keeping in mind if your impulse is to
dismiss the idea that America could fall into civil war again.
Steven
Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, authors of How Democracies Die:
Drawing on her deep understanding of the causes of intra-state violence . . .
Barbara F. Walter argues, chillingly, that many of the conditions that commonly
precede civil wars are present today in the United States.
Ibram X.
Kendi, author of How to Be an Antiracist: How Civil Wars
Start is a stop sign for an imperative book, and us— for our time. The
evidence-based preventative measures could not be more urgent. Read and
act.
Anne-Marie
Slaughter, president and CEO, New America: How Civil Wars Start
is a sobering but engrossing book. It is so tempting to ignore or deny Walter’s
carefully researched and reasoned conclusions, which is precisely the response
she is warning us against. . . . Highly recommended for anyone interested in
preserving American democracy.
Kori
Schake, Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, American
Enterprise Institute: This engaging book from one of the country’s most
authoritative scholars of civil wars is a dire warning. Governing amid
diversity is an incredible challenge, and this book is an important guide to
preserving our democracy.
Ben
Rhodes, author of After the Fall: How Civil Wars Start
brilliantly illuminates the history of civil wars and the profound dangers to
our union today, serving as both a warning about the stakes in our politics and
a call to action . . .
James
Fallows, co-author of Our Towns: Barbara F. Walter has done a
great service in demonstrating the risks the United States is now courting—and
how they might be offset.
Richard
English, author of Does Terrorism Work: A vivid, compelling
book on a globally vital issue. Timely, important and original.
About the Author
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| Prof Barbara F. Walter |
Barbara F. Walter is the Rohr Professor of International Relations at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California, San Diego. A life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Barbara F. Walter helps to run the award-winning blog ‘Political Violence at a Glance’ and has written for The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, and Foreign Affairs.
Product
and Bibliographic information
Hardcover: $18.80
Title: How Civil WarsStart: And How to Stop Them
Author: Barbara F.
Walter
Publisher: Crown, 2022
ISBN-10:0593137787
Length: 320 pages
Subjects: Political Science
Item Weight: 14.4 ounces
Dimensions: 5.77 x 1.06 x 8.53 inches
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