Stephen Van Evera
Encyclopedia
Stephen William Van Evera (born 10 November 1948) is a professor of Political Science
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, specializing in International Relations
. His research includes the U.S. foreign and national security policy and causes and prevention of war.
. During the 1980s he was managing editor of the journal International Security.
Van Evera is the author of Causes of War: Power and the Roots of Conflict (Cornell, 1999). He has also co edited Nuclear Diplomacy and Crisis Management (1990), Soviet Military Policy (1989), and The Star Wars Controversy (1986).
, which is a branch of structural realism.
1. War will be more common in periods when conquest is easy, or is believed easy, than in other periods.
2. States that have, or believe they have, large offensive opportunities or defensive vulnerabilities will initiate and fight more wars than other states.
3. Actual examples of true imbalances are rare and explain only a moderate amount of history. However, false perceptions of these factors are common and thus explain a great deal of history.
The causes of World War I
provide a good example of Van Evera’s theory in action. Although trench warfare
, poison gas, and the development of the machine gun
and air support meant that defensive strategies should have prevailed, many European nations were under the illusion that conquest was easy or that they were valuable. This misconception resulted in a drawn out, bloody conflict. Recent discussion in international relation theory withdraws the idea of explaining outbreak of World War I. with the offense-defense balance.
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
, specializing in International Relations
International relations
International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...
. His research includes the U.S. foreign and national security policy and causes and prevention of war.
Biography
Van Evera received his A.B. in government from Harvard and his Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. During the 1980s he was managing editor of the journal International Security.
Van Evera is the author of Causes of War: Power and the Roots of Conflict (Cornell, 1999). He has also co edited Nuclear Diplomacy and Crisis Management (1990), Soviet Military Policy (1989), and The Star Wars Controversy (1986).
Academic Work
Van Evera is considered a defensive realistDefensive realism
In international relations, defensive realism is a variant of political realism. Defensive realism looks at states as rational players who are the primary actors in world affairs. Defensive realism predicts that anarchy on the world stage causes states to become obsessed with security...
, which is a branch of structural realism.
Offense-Defense Theory
In Causes of War: Power and the Roots of Conflict, Van Evera proposed Offense-Defense theory, which attempts to discern what factors increase the likelihood of war. Van Evera states three main hypotheses:1. War will be more common in periods when conquest is easy, or is believed easy, than in other periods.
2. States that have, or believe they have, large offensive opportunities or defensive vulnerabilities will initiate and fight more wars than other states.
3. Actual examples of true imbalances are rare and explain only a moderate amount of history. However, false perceptions of these factors are common and thus explain a great deal of history.
The causes of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
provide a good example of Van Evera’s theory in action. Although trench warfare
Trench warfare
Trench warfare is a form of occupied fighting lines, consisting largely of trenches, in which troops are largely immune to the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery...
, poison gas, and the development of the machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
and air support meant that defensive strategies should have prevailed, many European nations were under the illusion that conquest was easy or that they were valuable. This misconception resulted in a drawn out, bloody conflict. Recent discussion in international relation theory withdraws the idea of explaining outbreak of World War I. with the offense-defense balance.
External links
- http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/TeachSem/vaneverabio.html
- http://web.mit.edu/polisci/faculty/S.VanEvera.html