A rash of small wars erupted after the Cold War ended in Africa, the Balkans, and other parts of the former communist world. No Peace, No War departs from the usual analysis that considers the new wars mindless mass actions to offer the paradoxical idea that to understand war it must be denied special status. Rather than leave war to the security specialists, these writers attempt to grasp its character as one among many aspects of social reality.

A rash of small wars erupted after the Cold War ended in Africa, the Balkans, and other parts of the former communist world. No Peace, No War departs from the usual analysis that considers the new wars mindless mass actions to offer the paradoxical idea that to understand war it must be denied special status. Rather than leave war to the security specialists, these writers attempt to grasp its character as one among many aspects of social reality.