Cyber Warfare Is Getting Real: The risk of escalation from cyberattacks has never been greater—or the pursuit of peace more complicated
My piece in Wired
Chris Blattman
International development, economics, politics, and policy
Latest posts
The Hard Truth About Long Wars: Why the Conflict in Ukraine Won’t End Anytime Soon
My Foreign Affairs piece on how ideals and ideology explain so many long wars, including this one
Presentation to the Joint Chiefs Operations Directorate
A 30-minute lecture on the book, followed by Q A
Spectator picks WWF as a best book of 2022
Journalist and foreign correspondent Michela Wrong chooses Why We Fight
From street fights to world wars: What gang violence can teach us about conflict
The Irregular Warfare podcast at West Point interviews me and Teny Gross, director of Chicago's Nonviolence Institute
The prospects for war with China: Why I see a serious chance of World War III in the next decade
When I wrote my book on war, I avoided ongoing conflicts because I didn t want the book to be dated the moment it came out. The roots of war and the paths to peace are timeless, and I wanted examples that made this permanence clear. Still, it was hard not to read obsessively about the [ ]
When is War Justified?
Top of Mind podcast
Conversation with Teny Gross on Gang Violence
Vox FuturePerfect50
Profile: Economist Chris Blattman has reshaped our understanding of violence and poverty
The 5 reasons wars happen
Book excerpt from The Modern War Institute
The roots of war: To discern why we fight, we should ask why we do not
Book excerpt in the Boston Review
Advanced Master’s & PhDs
Undergrad & Masters
High school
Teaching Why We Fight to high schoolers My students love the book. One thing that jumps out is how clearly Blattman writes. For high school students who are encountering a big topic for the first time, clarity is incredibly important. The book really speaks to a wide audience. —Matt Cone, Carrboro High School, Carrboro, North [ ]
Center for Strategic & International Studies
An interview by Erol Yaboke
If we elected more women would there be less war? Yes but not for the reasons you think
Opinion piece in Newsweek
Predicting and preventing violent crime before it happens
NPR's Hidden Brain podcast on violence from Monrovia to Chicago, and an amazing new way to stop it
How to cut short the long slog in Ukraine
Opinion piece in The Hill
Interview in Die Zeit (Germany)
With Alexandra Endres
The terrible trade-off: Why governments must choose between more violence or stronger gangs
My piece for the Modern War Institute