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Front Cover

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Taking Territory: The Persistence of Conquest Since 1945

Author:Dan Altman
ISBN:9789376548132
Binding:Hardcover
Pages:228 with 29 charts
Size:16 x 24 cm
FORTHCOMING

About the Book
Taking Territory is an eye-opening account of why territorial conquest remains a phenomenon today.

The end of World War II seemingly brought about a decline of territorial conquest. Many have argued that a strong territorial integrity norm in the postwar era explains this decline. Yet as Dan Altman shows, states have seized territory numerous times since 1945. Large-scale conquests have waned, but small, targeted seizures have persisted. The relationship between conquest and war has also shifted. While states attempting conquest before 1945 often initiated war, then sought to occupy large territories, challengers today more often seize small regions, then try to avoid war. This strategy, the fait accompli, has become the predominant mode of conquest.

Drawing on his own original data consisting of 175 conquest attempts between 1918 and 2024, Altman explains why conquest persists, what motivates it, when it turns violent, and when it succeeds. He shows how miscalculated faits accomplis have sparked many post-1945 wars and why the motives behind many territorial grabs are often about image, domestic politics, and the ambitions of military officers. Incisive and illuminating, Taking Territory cuts against what we think we know about post-1945 conquest to reveal its true causes and consequences.
About the Author
Dan Altman

Dan Altman is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Georgia State University.
Editorial Reviews



“Dan Altman provides a rigorous analysis of the strategies and motives behind territorial conquest since 1945. At a time when scholars and policymakers worry about the return of conquest, Taking Territory reminds us that it never really went away.”
—Kenneth Schultz, Stanford University
“Altman demonstrates that most territorial conquests today are driven by domestic politics rather than by strategic goals or economic value. Altman’s work challenges conventional ideas about territorial integrity norms and the link between territory and war, making it a must-read for conflict scholars.”
—Sara McLaughlin Mitchell, University of Iowa
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