Mike Martin, Why We Fight

Abstract

InWhyWe Fight, Mike Martin draws on his experience as amilitary veteran, biologist, andwar studies academic to explore the root causes of human conflict and war. In short, Martin’s central argument is that humans fight for status and belonging. These two motivations are not necessarily conscious but rather subconscious drives shaped over millions of years of human evolution. While WhyWe Fight provides a cogent and powerful biological theoretical framework for understanding human conflict, the real aim of the book, I believe, is sociological. Martin sets out to convince the reader that our current dominant sociocultural explanations of human conflict are causing more problems than they solve and that a biologically informed view is necessary to prevent and combat political violence in all its forms. The book is organized in 12 chapters that reflect a variety of interrelated topics, although there are two overarching themes: biology and culture. Martin first covers the biological side of his argument—the underlying psychological drives that subconsciously motivate us to use violence. Employing an evolutionary psychology framework, Martin explains how the process of evolution by natural selection has shaped the human mind over millions of years, endowing us with certain behaviors that, on average, increase our reproductive fitness. In particular, Martin argues that group living and high social status allowed ancient humans a plethora of evolutionary benefits. Thosewhoweremainlymotivated by a desire for belonging and status were more likely to survive and reproduce and leave genes for these instincts in the gene pool. Over time, then, humans evolved corresponding neurobiological mechanisms driving these two motivations. Belonging is regulated by oxytocin, which motivates us to seek and find comfort in the security of groups. Status seeking is regulated by testosterone, which encourages us to climb the hierarchy within those groups, especially in response to challenges to our status, and more so in males than females. But Martin stresses that the causal effects of these two motivations are probabilistic, not deterministic. They only give us a “push” toward using violence in response to specific environmental stimuli. After laying out the biological foundations of why we fight,Martinmoves on to the sociocultural explanations. There is, according to Martin, a fundamental dilemma with group living. Every individual wants to reap the benefits of group living while simultaneously maximizing their selfish interests. If individuals feel that the benefits of the group are not worth the costs, they will splinter off and form their own groups. Martin posits that to solve this dilemma and maintain a cohesive social group, humans need to address the five interrelated problems of identity, hierarchy, trade, disease, and punishment. Over time, our solution to these five problems has been to socially construct various moral codes, religions, and ideologies. But here, Martin makes a bold claim: these social constructions only provide us with an illusion that we are making conscious and socially acceptable decisions, when we are actually making selfish, subconscious decisions to achieve belonging and attain status. An example that Martin tackles repeatedly throughout the book is suicide terrorism. Martin’s confrontation with this form of terrorism is essential because it might appear to contradict an evolutionary perspective. After all, if war and violence came about as a result of evolutionary fitness, why would young and often childless individuals commit suicide for their group? Martin argues, quite convincingly, that suicide bombers are one of the more extreme examples of individuals desperately seeking a sense of belonging and status. Martin suggests that aggressive counterterrorism policies further alienate and humiliate these individuals, driving them to commit to an ultimate and desperate act to regain their lost sense of belonging and status. Furthermore, contrary to current counterterrorism doctrine, Martin argues that ideology is merely an illusion that facilities this behavior by making it socially acceptable and high status for those willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for their group. A notable strength of this book is howMartin precedes each chapter with his own experiences in Afghanistan and elsewhere as a military officer. This allows the reader to situate Martin’s theoretical argument within a real-world example that is quite personal to the author andmakes the academic sections more accessible. Perhaps the greatest strength of this book, though, is the real-world solutions thatMartin offers.Martin’s perspective here follows other insurgency theorists who see extremism as primarily a doi: 10.1017/pls.2021.26 Correspondence: Robert Bognar, University of Oxford. Email: robert. bognar@lincoln.ox.ac.uk Book Reviews