Noah Weisbord (FIU): Evolutions of the Jus Ad Bellum: The Crime of Aggression. Peter Turchin (UConn): Warfare and the Evolution of Social Complexity: A Multilevel-Selection Approach. Randall Collins (Penn): A Dynamic Theory of Battle Victory and Defeat. Christopher J. Coyne (George Mason) and Adam J. Pellillo (West Virginia): The Political Economy of War and Peace. Matt Motyl (Virginia), Joshua Hart (Union), and Tom Pyszczynski (Colorado): When Animals Attack: The Effects of Mortality Salience, Infrahumanization of Violence, and Authoritarianism on Support for War. From Smells Like Science, an article on chimpanzee warfare, the first part of a series, Why We Fight, about the origins of warfare (and an interview with primatologist John Mitani). Nasty, brutish and not that short: Medieval warfare was just as terrifying as you might imagine. A review of War in an Age of Risk by Christopher Coker. An interview with Jeremy Black on the history of war. A review of Killing in War by Jeff McMahon. A review of Moral Dilemmas of Modern War: Torture, Assassination, and Blackmail in an Age of Asymmetric Conflict by Michael Gross. Survey Says: War is the irrational choice. Ideas of the century: Nancy Sherman on the moral psychology of war (and more). From Cato Unbound, Andrew Mack on A More Secure World. Two recent books cast doubt on the value of the existing laws of war when it comes to safeguarding civilians in an age of unconventional conflict, but the current regulations constitute a firm foundation on which to better protect civilians.
