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Diffusion, Reinforcement, Geopolitics, and the Spread of War

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

Benjamin A. Most  and
Harvey Starr
Benjamin A. Most
Affiliation:
Brown University
Harvey Starr
Affiliation:
Indiana University
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Abstract

The discussion reports the results of an examination of the possible diffusion of new war participations during the 1946–65 era. A theoretical argument is developed to yield more precise expectations about when, where, why, and how diffusion processs might operate. Four diffusion-related processes (positive spatial diffusion, positive reinforcement, negative spatial diffusion, and negative reinforcement) are discussed and analyzed. A series of simple turnover tables and a focus on nations' borders are used to go beyond the authors' previous stochastic modeling efforts. The results provide strong evidence that is consistent with both the authors' theoretical argument and the general war diffusion hypothesis. The analyses seem to indicate that certain types of wars may indeed have tended to diffuse across space from one nation to another between 1946 and 1965.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 74 , Issue 4 , December 1980 , pp. 932 - 946
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1980

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