Dr. Richard Jordan publishes a new article in The Journal of Politics

The new article by the Associate Professor of Political Science Richard Jordan co-authored with Peter Bils and Kristopher Ramsay was published in The Journal of Politics. 

Titled “Fanatical Peace: How Fundamental Disagreements Can Discourage Conflict,” the article argues that fundamental differences in worldviews of rival leaders may encourage them to avoid conflict. 

Since major differences in worldviews may prevent leaders from updating their beliefs about the war’s outcome once the conflict starts, “mutual optimism can persist across many rounds of interaction.” 

Hence, wars between leaders with dissimilar worldviews are more likely to last longer and be costlier for both sides. 

This gives rise to what authors call a “fanatical peace,” which occurs when both sides recognize that “the other is too radical to be persuaded.” 

One of the empirical implications of the argument attributes durability of the armistice between North and South Korea to major divergence of the ideologies of the two states.