Introduction to International Relations - How Leader Bias Causes (and Does Not Cause) War

So far, we have looked at state-based explanations for war. At that level, war is certainly inefficient. However, war may sometimes be directly beneficial to leaders. This gives rise to a new mechanism for conflict, as it renders irrelevant the inefficiency puzzle we have explored previously. Today, we examine the circumstances where leader benefits can arise, noting that the situations and consequences are not as straightforward as they seem. 0:00 Leader Biases as a Cause of War 3:26 Zero Costs vs. Private Benefits 16:50 Rally 'Round the Flag Effects 26:38 Gambling for Resurrection 34:14 Leader Retirement Incentives The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and NATO visual information does not imply or constitute an endorsement. Media licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): By Kremlin.ru: http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/58405 http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/68016 http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/68605 http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/71496 http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/73585 http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/78004 http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/78301