Nostalgic Virility as a Cause of War argues that world leaders react to status decline by going to war, guided by a nostalgic, virile understanding of what it means to be powerful. Consulting newly declassified documents at the highest levels of decision-making, Grandpierron uses the framework of nostalgic virility to provide surprising ways of thinking about current conflicts, from the Russian war in Ukraine to Chinese actions in the South China Sea.

Matthieu Grandpierron is associate professor of international relations and political science at the Catholic University of Vendée.