Military Gamesmanship and Moral Ascendency

Abstract

This chapter discusses the causes of ceasefire violations (CFVs) using a template of five types of causes which are, operational reasons, politico-strategic reasons, retributive reasons, cultural factors, and inadvertent firing. The order in which these causes have been mentioned is based on their ability to cause CFVs. This chapter also explains CFVs using the concept of ‘autonomous military factors’ (AMFs). A large chunk of the causes of CFVs identified earlier fall under the category of AMFs. The chapter uses interviews with over 80 officials and a survey of primary and secondary sources to examine the causes of CFVs.