Azar Gat
Biographic Data
| ID | 528989 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Azar Gat |
| GIVEN NAMES | Azar |
| FAMILY NAME | Gat |
| SIGNATURE | GAT A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Tel Aviv University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6659-4575 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 34 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 149 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 34 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1988 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Is the decline of war a delusion? An exchange between researchers following the publication of Azar Gat’s article on the subject
Is the decline of war a delusion? The long peace phenomenon and the modernization peace – the explanation that refutes or subsumes all others
Ideological Fixation: From the Stone Age to Today's Culture Wars
After theorists around 1960 proclaimed the “death of ideology”, ideological divides and clashes have re-emerged with renewed intensity throughout the world. In the United States they have become particularly venomous. Each side in America’s escalating ideological civil war charges the other with concocting “fake news” and “alternative facts”. The other side is widely viewed as malicious, irrational, or downright stupid, and, often, as barely legi…
La guerre est-elle dans notre nature
La possibilité de la guerre comme celle de la paix sont présentes au fond de chacun d’entre nous. La boîte à outils des comportements humains comprend un certain nombre d’outils majeurs, destinés respectivement au conflit violent, à la compétition pacifique, ou à la coopération, en fonction de l’évaluation faite par chacun de ce qui leur sera le plus utile dans des circonstances données. Le conflit n’est qu’un de ces outils – le marteau – parmi u…
Is War in Our Nature: What Is Right and What Is Wrong about the Seville Statement on Violence
Evolutionary Theory and the Causes of War
Proving communal warfare among hunter‐gatherers: The quasi‐rousseauan error
Was human fighting always there, as old as our species? Or is it a late cultural invention, emerging after the transition to agriculture and the rise of the state, which began, respectively, only around ten thousand and five thousand years ago? Viewed against the life span of our species, Homo sapiens , stretching back 150,000–200,000 years, let alone the roughly two million years of our genus Homo , this is the tip of the iceberg. We now have a …
Debate on Azar Gat's Nations: The Long History and Deep Roots of Political Ethnicity and Nationalism
Is war declining - and why
The article reviews and assesses the recent literature that claims a sharp decrease in fighting and violent mortality rate since prehistory and during recent times. It also inquires into the causes of this decrease. The article supports the view, firmly established over the past 15 years and unrecognized by only one of the books reviewed, that the first massive decline in violent mortality occurred with the emergence of the state-Leviathan. Hobbe…
So Why Do People Fight? Evolutionary Theory and the Causes of War
The causes of war remain a strangely obscure subject in the discipline of International Relations. Although the subject is of cardinal significance, theories of International Relations address it only obliquely, and most scholars in the field recognize the lacuna only when their attention is drawn to it. While people have a good idea of the aims that may motivate states to go to war, an attempt at a strict definition of them is widely regarded as…
War in Human Civilization
The Democratic Peace Theory Reframed: The Impact of Modernity
This article argues that the democratic peace theorists have overlooked the defining development that underlies that peace of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: the industrial-technological revolution. Not only did that revolution make democracy on a country scale possible; it also madeallthe countries that experienced the revolution—democratic and nondemocratic—far less belligerent in comparison with preindustrial times. The democratic peac…
Ideology, national policy, technology and strategic doctrine between the world wars
Going beyond the still prevalent image of the interwar period as the scene of a struggle between progress and reaction in strategic doctrine, this article analyzes the factors that shaped the formulation of strategy and doctrine in each of the great powers. It shows how underlying technological trends and sweeping visions of warfare on land, in the air, and at sea had to be squared with practical questions and intricate problems of application an…
Fascist and Liberal Visions of War: Fuller, Liddell Hart, Douhet, and Other Modernists
In this ground-breaking study, Professor Azar Gat examines how the theories of mechanized war developed throughout the industrial world in the first decades of the twentieth century. He explains why the most famous pioneers of these theories were asssociated with proto-facscism. Professor Gat then drastically re-evaluates B.H. Liddell Hart's contribution to strategic theory, overturning much of the criticism recently levelled against him. He argu…
British Armour Theory and the Rise of the Panzer Arm: Revising the Revisionists
Preface Acknowledgements LIDDELL HART'S THEORY OF ARMOURED WARFARE Deep Strategic Penetration Combating 'Blitzkrieg' The All-arms Armoured Formation BRITISH INFLUENCE AND THE EVOLUTION OF THE PANZER ARM Origins: The 1920s and Early '30s The Creation of the Panzer Arm Conclusion Bibliography Index
Female participation in war: Bio‐cultural interactions
Throughout history fighting has been associated with men. Cross‐cultural studies of male/female differences have found serious violence as the most distinctive sex difference there is. Is that a matter of education and social conventions, or are men naturally far more adapted to fighting than women are? This question is at the centre of public debate nowadays regarding the right and ability of women to enlist in combat roles in the armed services…
Shorter notice. Delbruck's Modern Military History. H Bucholz [ed.]
The Pattern of Fighting in Simple, Small-Scale, Prestate Societies
This article shows that the pattern of human fighting among hunter-gatherers and simple horticulturalists was not very different from that prevailing among animals species; indeed, it is explained by a similar evolutionary logic. The article addresses all scales of both inter and intragroup fighting, for fighting and killing take place both within and between groups. This pattern is more complex than the simple ingroup cooperation/outgroup rivalr…
Shorter Notices
SHORTER NOTICES Get access AZAR GAT AZAR GAT Tel Aviv University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The English Historical Review, Volume CXIII, Issue 451, April 1998, Page 493, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/CXIII.451.493 Published: 01 April 1998
Shorter Notices
SHORTER NOTICES AZAR GAT AZAR GAT Tel Aviv University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The English Historical Review, Volume CXIII, Issue 450, February 1998, Pages 263–264, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/CXIII.450.263 Published: 01 February 1998
British Influence and the Evolution of the Panzer Arm: Myth or Reality? Part I
British Influence and the Evolution of the Panzer Arm: Myth or Reality? Part II
Futurism, Proto-Fascist Italian Culture and the Sources of Douhetism
(1997). Futurism, Proto-Fascist Italian Culture and the Sources of Douhetism. War & Society: Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 31-51
The Hidden Sources of Liddell Hart's Strategic Ideas
Liddell Hart's theory of armoured warfare: Revising the revisionists
The Pattern of Fighting in Simple, Small-Scale, Prestate Societies
This article shows that the pattern of human fighting among hunter-gatherers and simple horticulturalists was not very different from that prevailing among animals species; indeed, it is explained by a similar evolutionary logic. The article addresses all scales of both inter and intragroup fighting, for fighting and killing take place both within and between groups. This pattern is more complex than the simple ingroup cooperation/outgroup rivalr…
War in Human Civilization
The Democratic Peace Theory Reframed: The Impact of Modernity
This article argues that the democratic peace theorists have overlooked the defining development that underlies that peace of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: the industrial-technological revolution. Not only did that revolution make democracy on a country scale possible; it also madeallthe countries that experienced the revolution—democratic and nondemocratic—far less belligerent in comparison with preindustrial times. The democratic peac…
Is war declining - and why
The article reviews and assesses the recent literature that claims a sharp decrease in fighting and violent mortality rate since prehistory and during recent times. It also inquires into the causes of this decrease. The article supports the view, firmly established over the past 15 years and unrecognized by only one of the books reviewed, that the first massive decline in violent mortality occurred with the emergence of the state-Leviathan. Hobbe…
So Why Do People Fight? Evolutionary Theory and the Causes of War
The causes of war remain a strangely obscure subject in the discipline of International Relations. Although the subject is of cardinal significance, theories of International Relations address it only obliquely, and most scholars in the field recognize the lacuna only when their attention is drawn to it. While people have a good idea of the aims that may motivate states to go to war, an attempt at a strict definition of them is widely regarded as…
British Influence and the Evolution of the Panzer Arm: Myth or Reality? Part II
The Development of Military Thought: The Nineteenth Century
Positivism, romanticism and military theory, 1815-1870 the German military school - its world-view and conception of war, 1815-1914 the cult of the offensive - the sources of French military doctrine, 1871-1914 from sail to steam - naval theory and the military parallel Marxism, Clausewitz and military theory, 1848 to the Nuclear Age
Clausewitz and the Marxists: Yet Another Look
Is War in Our Nature: What Is Right and What Is Wrong about the Seville Statement on Violence
Debate on Azar Gat's Nations: The Long History and Deep Roots of Political Ethnicity and Nationalism
Ideology, national policy, technology and strategic doctrine between the world wars
Going beyond the still prevalent image of the interwar period as the scene of a struggle between progress and reaction in strategic doctrine, this article analyzes the factors that shaped the formulation of strategy and doctrine in each of the great powers. It shows how underlying technological trends and sweeping visions of warfare on land, in the air, and at sea had to be squared with practical questions and intricate problems of application an…
Female participation in war: Bio‐cultural interactions
Throughout history fighting has been associated with men. Cross‐cultural studies of male/female differences have found serious violence as the most distinctive sex difference there is. Is that a matter of education and social conventions, or are men naturally far more adapted to fighting than women are? This question is at the centre of public debate nowadays regarding the right and ability of women to enlist in combat roles in the armed services…
Clausewitz's Political and Ethical World View
This article challenges the accepted view that Clausewitz did not deal with the ethical status of war. It attempts to show that his views on this matter are well documented in his works; that they were part and parcel of a comprehensive outlook regarding the nature of both international relations and the state; and that this outlook reflected the emerging world view in the Germany of national awakening
Montecuccoli: Humanist Philosophy, Paracelsian Science and Military Theory
(1988). Montecuccoli: Humanist Philosophy, Paracelsian Science and Military Theory. War & Society: Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 21-31
Clausewitz on defence and attack
(1988). Clausewitz on defence and attack. Journal of Strategic Studies: Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 20-26
Clausewitz's Political and Ethical World View
This article challenges the accepted view that Clausewitz did not deal with the ethical status of war. It attempts to show that his views on this matter are well documented in his works; that they were part and parcel of a comprehensive outlook regarding the nature of both international relations and the state; and that this outlook reflected the emerging world view in the Germany of national awakening
Ardant du Picq's Scientism, Teaching and Influence
1990). Ardant du Picq's Scientism, Teaching and Influence. War & Society: Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 1-16
Shorter Notices
Shorter Notices Get access AZAR GAT AZAR GAT Tel-Aviv University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The English Historical Review, Volume CVI, Issue CCCCXX, July 1991, Pages 721–722, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/CVI.CCCCXX.721 Published: 01 July 1991
Clausewitz and the Marxists: Yet Another Look
The Development of Military Thought: The Nineteenth Century
The Development of Military Thought: The Nineteenth Century
Positivism, romanticism and military theory, 1815-1870 the German military school - its world-view and conception of war, 1815-1914 the cult of the offensive - the sources of French military doctrine, 1871-1914 from sail to steam - naval theory and the military parallel Marxism, Clausewitz and military theory, 1848 to the Nuclear Age
Shorter Notices
SHORTER NOTICES Get access AZAR GAT AZAR GAT Tel Aviv University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The English Historical Review, Volume CIX, Issue 430, February 1994, Pages 195-a–195, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/CIX.430.195-a Published: 01 February 1994
The Hidden Sources of Liddell Hart's Strategic Ideas
Liddell Hart's theory of armoured warfare: Revising the revisionists
British Influence and the Evolution of the Panzer Arm: Myth or Reality? Part I
British Influence and the Evolution of the Panzer Arm: Myth or Reality? Part II
Futurism, Proto-Fascist Italian Culture and the Sources of Douhetism
(1997). Futurism, Proto-Fascist Italian Culture and the Sources of Douhetism. War & Society: Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 31-51
Shorter Notices
SHORTER NOTICES Get access AZAR GAT AZAR GAT Tel Aviv University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The English Historical Review, Volume CXIII, Issue 451, April 1998, Page 493, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/CXIII.451.493 Published: 01 April 1998
Shorter Notices
SHORTER NOTICES AZAR GAT AZAR GAT Tel Aviv University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The English Historical Review, Volume CXIII, Issue 450, February 1998, Pages 263–264, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/CXIII.450.263 Published: 01 February 1998
Shorter notice. Delbruck's Modern Military History. H Bucholz [ed.]
The Pattern of Fighting in Simple, Small-Scale, Prestate Societies
This article shows that the pattern of human fighting among hunter-gatherers and simple horticulturalists was not very different from that prevailing among animals species; indeed, it is explained by a similar evolutionary logic. The article addresses all scales of both inter and intragroup fighting, for fighting and killing take place both within and between groups. This pattern is more complex than the simple ingroup cooperation/outgroup rivalr…
Fascist and Liberal Visions of War: Fuller, Liddell Hart, Douhet, and Other Modernists
In this ground-breaking study, Professor Azar Gat examines how the theories of mechanized war developed throughout the industrial world in the first decades of the twentieth century. He explains why the most famous pioneers of these theories were asssociated with proto-facscism. Professor Gat then drastically re-evaluates B.H. Liddell Hart's contribution to strategic theory, overturning much of the criticism recently levelled against him. He argu…
British Armour Theory and the Rise of the Panzer Arm: Revising the Revisionists
Preface Acknowledgements LIDDELL HART'S THEORY OF ARMOURED WARFARE Deep Strategic Penetration Combating 'Blitzkrieg' The All-arms Armoured Formation BRITISH INFLUENCE AND THE EVOLUTION OF THE PANZER ARM Origins: The 1920s and Early '30s The Creation of the Panzer Arm Conclusion Bibliography Index
Female participation in war: Bio‐cultural interactions
Throughout history fighting has been associated with men. Cross‐cultural studies of male/female differences have found serious violence as the most distinctive sex difference there is. Is that a matter of education and social conventions, or are men naturally far more adapted to fighting than women are? This question is at the centre of public debate nowadays regarding the right and ability of women to enlist in combat roles in the armed services…
Ideology, national policy, technology and strategic doctrine between the world wars
Going beyond the still prevalent image of the interwar period as the scene of a struggle between progress and reaction in strategic doctrine, this article analyzes the factors that shaped the formulation of strategy and doctrine in each of the great powers. It shows how underlying technological trends and sweeping visions of warfare on land, in the air, and at sea had to be squared with practical questions and intricate problems of application an…
The Democratic Peace Theory Reframed: The Impact of Modernity
This article argues that the democratic peace theorists have overlooked the defining development that underlies that peace of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: the industrial-technological revolution. Not only did that revolution make democracy on a country scale possible; it also madeallthe countries that experienced the revolution—democratic and nondemocratic—far less belligerent in comparison with preindustrial times. The democratic peac…
War in Human Civilization
So Why Do People Fight? Evolutionary Theory and the Causes of War
The causes of war remain a strangely obscure subject in the discipline of International Relations. Although the subject is of cardinal significance, theories of International Relations address it only obliquely, and most scholars in the field recognize the lacuna only when their attention is drawn to it. While people have a good idea of the aims that may motivate states to go to war, an attempt at a strict definition of them is widely regarded as…
History (18 works) · Political science (18 works) · Law (12 works) · Philosophy (12 works) · Military History and Strategy (11 works) · Sociology (11 works) · Epistemology (10 works) · Law (8 works) · Classics (7 works) · Computer Science (7 works)