The Political Legacies of Combat: Attitudes Toward War and Peace Among Israeli Ex-Combatants

Guy Grossman, Devorah Manekin, Dan Miodownik

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

87 Scopus citations

Abstract

Recent research has highlighted combat's positive effects for political behavior, but it is unclear whether they extend to attitudes toward the conflict itself. We exploit the assignment of health rankings determining combat eligibility in the Israel Defense Forces to examine the effect of combat exposure on support for peaceful conflict resolution. Given the centrality of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to global affairs, and its apparent intractability, the political consequences of combat become all the more pressing. We find that exposure to combat hardens attitudes toward the rival and reduces support for negotiation and compromise. Importantly, these attitudes translate into voting behavior: combatants are likely to vote for more hawkish parties. These findings call for caution in emphasizing the benign effects of combat and underscore the importance of reintegrating combatants during the transition from conflict to peace.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)981-1009
Number of pages29
JournalInternational Organization
Volume69
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - May 19 2015

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Political Science and International Relations
  • Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management
  • Law

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