‘To want’ is a strong word. This essay argues that an unqualified desire for war can hardly be attributed to Stalin, Truman or Mao, albeit with differences in the way and degree to which this is true for them individually. A concise historiography of the Korean War is followed by a tripartite analysis of the motivations the characterized the three leaders’ decision-making in the crucial years and months leading to the Korean War.
Collective security in the interwar period was oxymoronic in that specific national security interests proved irreconcilable with the idea of security for all by all. Additionally, it was empty, as when perceived national security aims did not openly contradict the principle of collective security the two often did not coincide, a gap that translated into a powerful disincentive to embrace collective security as an ideal, and enforce it as a practice.
What is it that makes divisions along ethnic lines salient to forms of opposition that can degenerate into levels of violence as extreme as genocide? What made the peaceful multi-ethnic neighborhoods of Sarajevo turn into battlefields? The short answer is the politicization of ethnicity and ethnic diversity.
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