Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Diffusion, Reinforcement, Geopolitics, And The Spread Of War, Benjamin A. Most, Harvey Starr

Faculty Publications

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 …