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Rationalist explanations for war

@article{Fearon1995RationalistEF,
  title={Rationalist explanations for war},
  author={James D. Fearon},
  journal={International Organization},
  year={1995},
  volume={49},
  pages={379 - 414},
  url={https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:38573183}
}
Realist and other scholars commonly hold that rationally led states can and sometimes do fight when no peaceful bargains exist that both would prefer to war. Against this view, I show that under very broad conditions there will exist negotiated settlements that genuinely rational states would mutually prefer to a risky and costly fight. Popular rationalist and realist explanations for war fail either to address or to explain adequately what would prevent leaders from locating a less costly… 
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