The propositions listed below provide a detailed summary of the explanation of war provided in the book. Citations following each entry indicate where in the text the proposition is derived and what existing evidence is consistent with the proposition.

The propositions will make it possible to conduct tests of the theoretical model. If the thrust of these propositions can be confirmed and the details refined and elaborated by further research, then it will be possible to move toward a theory of the onset and expansion of war. This is the goal that the analysis has meant to serve.

The cumulation of knowledge involves more than just testing, however; it also involves more exploratory research in light of new theoretical insights. Since this analysis has sought to broaden research on war, several queries that cannot yet be answered are also listed. Answering them will help specify the model. These will be best investigated by further inductive research, especially comparative case studies. It is hoped that these propositions and queries will guide research on war along more theoretically productive lines than has been the case in the past.

A RESEARCH AGENDA ON CAUSES OF WAR: PROPOSITIONS AND QUERIES

1. War is a social invention for the use of force; therefore, the goals of war, the ways in which it is fought, and the situations that are handled by war will vary according to the cultural traditions of the global (or regional) system (Chapter 1; Chapter 8: 281–2).

2. The interactions between political actors and the domestic political dynamics preceding war will vary according to the type of war, but specific causal paths to war can be delineated (Chapter 2; Chapter 6:218).

3. […]