War and peace are as important as other institutions- science, politics, family, economy, religion, etc.- but rarely receive the same level of sociological attention. Systems of War and Peace covers this gap by presenting a coherent framework for understanding why and how wars start and end; what military organizations are, how they function, and where they came from; plus, how peace has been achieved in the past and how it can be achieved in the future. The balance of topics is intended to provide a sufficient basis for understanding the whole spectrum of violent social conflict and the reasons why some peace efforts have failed and others have succeeded.

The second edition has been updated to include recent developments and new topics. Since the first edition in 1994, there have been no international wars, but there has been a host of rebellions, civil wars, interventions, and terrorist attacks. At the same time, some conflicts have abated and peacemaking attempts have been ongoing in many venues. A number of topics neglected in the first edition, such as sexuality in the military, have been added.