Competition among modern states has not been an impetus for altruistic cooperation.

True: historical and social-science scholarship as of 2012 shows that interstate competition and war did not produce altruistic cooperation among citizens; cooperation instead came from coercion such as conscription, from self-interest or from other mechanisms. Mostly true: largely supported, with minor counterexamples the claim overlooks. Mixed: the literature is substantially divided, with credible evidence on both sides, such as studies finding that war exposure increases in-group cooperation. Mostly false: the claim overgeneralises against substantial evidence that interstate competition has fostered within-group altruistic cooperation, while resting on a real point such as the widespread use of coercive conscription. False: the evidence clearly shows that interstate competition has been a major impetus for altruistic cooperation.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 The legacy of war on social and political behaviour CEPR VoxEU · 2 July 2016

   “Evidence from surveys and experiments from over 40 countries reveals a stylised fact: individual exposure to war-related violence tends to increase social cooperation, community participation, and pro-social behaviour. However, these changes are mainly directed towards people from the same community.”

2. E2 The legacy of war on social and political behaviour CEPR VoxEU · 2 July 2016

   “Compared to non-victims, people who were directly exposed to conflict-related violence were less selfish and more inequality averse towards in-group members eight years after experiencing war-related violence.”

3. E3 Conflict, sticks and carrots: war increases prosocial punishments and rewards PubMed Central (PMC) · 8 June 2011

   “Rather than simply increasing within-group solidarity, violent intergroup conflict thus elicits behaviours that, writ large, enhance cooperation within the group, thereby making victory more likely.”

4. E4 Mass Warfare and the Welfare State – Causal Mechanisms and Effects | British Journal of Political Science | Cambridge Core Cambridge University Press (British Journal of Political Science) · 5 January 2017

   “Mass warfare and mass conscription also increased political demands for progressive taxation.”

E3, published in 2011 before the claim date, reports that violent intergroup conflict increases prosocial punishments and rewards that strengthen within-group cooperation. This cuts against the claim that interstate competition has not driven altruistic cooperation. E1 and E2, a 2016 review of surveys and experiments across many countries, find that exposure to war tends to increase pro-social behaviour, though mainly towards in-group members. E4 links mass warfare to conscription and policy demands, which partly fits the claim's emphasis on coercion. So the literature has credible evidence on both sides, matching the criteria's description of a mixed result.