book

Third World War: System, Process, and Conflict

by Monty G. Marshall

Rowman and Littlefield
© 1999
ISBN: 0847693481
328 pages

This empirical study rigorously analyzes the pervasive and increasing incidence of militancy, political violence, societal disintegration, underdevelopment, and failed states in the Third World in the period, 1946-1990. Distinct patterns of violence in the contemporary world system appear to support the adage, "violence begets violence." The study follows a "culture- of-violence" approach in explaining the patterns of violence and constructs a set of comprehensive theoretical models built on the foundational concepts of the "social identity group" and a general "social conflict process" and based upon temporal, spatial, and systemic relationships and dynamics. The result is a dynamic, structural theory of the systemic "diffusion of insecurity" and its trilogy of processual effects upon proximate social relationships and political priorities of affected parties. The diffusion of insecurity dynamics infer a societal syndrome of distorted priorities culminating in an acute condition of societal underdevelopment and poor performance by states consumed by the overly consumptive practices and effects of the Third World War.