Westminster Town Hall Forum - Chris Blattman

Westminster Town Hall Forum: Chris Blattman on Why We Fight

Chris Blattman is an internationally renowned expert on violence and peacebuilding. His new book, Why We Fight draws on decades of economics, political science, psychology, and real-world interventions to lay out the root causes and remedies for war.

Its central premise: violence is not the norm. He explains there are only five reasons why conflict wins over compromise; and that peacemakers can turn the tides through tinkering, not transformation.

Chris Blattman is the Ramalee E. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies at The University of Chicago’s Pearson Institute and Harris School of Public Policy, he coleads the Development Economics Center and directs the Obama Foundation Scholars program. His work on violence, crime, and poverty has been widely covered by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Forbes, Slate, Vox, and NPR. He is an economist and political scientist who studies violence, crime, and underdevelopment.