Originally posted by Zouave
That's another form of a lame, dumb AI cheat.
Unless you are actually attacked and threatened militarily merely "declaring war" should in no way effect war weariness in a republic or even a democracy. Why would they people get "weary" when nothing really happens??
An AI cheat, eh?
I use this technique myself to cut off AI-AI trade that has to go through my borders or coastal squares sometimes.
EX: Egypt sells ivory to Rome. Rome has somethig I want, but I only have Ivory to offer Rome. I declare war on egypt, thereby breaking the trade then, I sell ivory to Rome for what I want, maybe horses, or dyes etc. So there is an economic use for the 'declare war, but don't fight' that humans can use as well.
I also use this to force concessions from an AI. I declare war, having no intentions of ever fighting outside my own territory. Then when the AI population is absolutely sick of war weariness, I'll offer peace, and get a lux and strat resource, and even per turn income to boot. Of course, this really only works if you are 'strategically' positioned to wage a war of happiness against an AI civ.
In a sense, they intentionally/accidentally programed the AI to do things that a strategically minded human can get away with as well.
I concede though, sometimes, I absolutely can not find a reason for why some AI wars happen.
Edit (close analogy):
Remeber the 'cuban missile crisis'? This could be an example of a 'non-violent' declaration of war. While the west became a little motivated and nationally proud for awhile, if the matter continued unresolved, the uncertainty of actual future violence probably would have become psychologically crippling to western populations and eventually lead to a stagnant economy.
