War and the turn to history in international relations

This chapter is an attempt to assess how the turn to history has affected the ways in which war is understood within the study of international relations. After briefly describing what has been at stake in the recent turn to history, the chapter explores how war has been conceptualized in some prominent works within historical international relations. I argue that three things have happened to the study of war. First, whereas the traditional study of international relations has been invested in identifying the proper causes of war, the historical reorientation has brought a focus on its effects. Second, whereas the study of historical sociology traditionally has explored the role of war in state-making, historical international relations has explored the role of war in the making of the international system as a whole. Finally, whereas the focus on the constitutive and transformative functions of war has been instrumental in resolving the tension between history and structure in the study of international relations, it runs the risk of making war look as inescapable source of change in world politics.