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How Civil Wars Start

How Civil Wars Start

And How to Stop Them

Summary

Civil wars are the biggest danger to world peace today - this book shows us why they happen, and how to avoid them.

'When one of the world's leading scholars of civil war tells us that a country is on the brink of violent conflict, we should pay attention' Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, How Democracies Die

We are now living in the world's greatest era of civil wars. While violence has declined worldwide, major civil wars are now being fought in countries Iraq, Syria and Libya as well as smaller civil wars in India and Malaysia. Even countries we thought could never experience another - such as the USA, Sweden and Ireland - are showing signs of unrest. So how can we stop them?

In How Civil Wars Start, Professor Barbara F. Walter, an expert who has advised the CIA, Senate and UN, explains the rise of civil wars, the conditions that create them and a path back toward peace.

*Sunday Times Smart Thinking Book of the Year 2022 & New York Times Bestseller*

Reviews

  • When one of the world's leading scholars of civil war tells us that a country is on the brink of violent conflict, we should pay attention . . . This is an important book
    Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, authors of How Democracies Die

About the author

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 member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Walter runs the award-winning blog Political Violence at a Glance and has written for the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Reuters and Foreign Affairs.
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