Andrew P. Owsiak - Böcker

Why do some international crises between major states escalate to war while others do not? To shed light on this question, this book reviews fifteen such crises during the period 1815-present, including the Crimean War, The Franco-Prussian War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the 2022 Russia-Ukraine War. Each chapter places the crisis at hand in its historical context, provides a narrative of the case's events that focuses on the decision-makers involved, theoretically analyses the case's outcome in light of current research, and inductively draws some lessons from the case for both scholars and policymakers. The book concludes by exploring common patterns and drawing some broader lessons that apply to the practice of diplomacy and international relations theory. Integrating qualitative information with the rich body of quantitative research on interstate war and peace, this unique volume is a major contribution to crisis diplomacy and war studies.

Why do some international crises between major states escalate to war while others do not? To shed light on this question, this book reviews fifteen such crises during the period 1815-present, including the Crimean War, The Franco-Prussian War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the 2022 Russia-Ukraine War. Each chapter places the crisis at hand in its historical context, provides a narrative of the case's events that focuses on the decision-makers involved, theoretically analyses the case's outcome in light of current research, and inductively draws some lessons from the case for both scholars and policymakers. The book concludes by exploring common patterns and drawing some broader lessons that apply to the practice of diplomacy and international relations theory. Integrating qualitative information with the rich body of quantitative research on interstate war and peace, this unique volume is a major contribution to crisis diplomacy and war studies.

This book asks scholars to reexamine international conflict and its management—in order to move the field toward directly theorizing about and examining the interdependence between conflict events and conflict management attempts.Despite decades of work, research on international conflict and its management remains siloed in three fundamental ways. First, scholars do not thoroughly address international conflict dynamics within studies of conflict management, even though the former give rise to the latter. Second, existing work generally investigates one conflict management strategy (e.g., mediation) at the expense of others (e.g., adjudication). These strategies, however, are not independent of one another; they exist on a single menu from which potential third parties choose. Third parties therefore implicitly—if not explicitly—consider and select among the various strategies when deciding how to manage a conflict, thereby inviting and incorporating comparisons. Finally, researchers tend to treat conflict management efforts—even within the same conflict—as independent events, even though some efforts (e.g., adjudication or arbitration) follow and explicitly relate to other, earlier efforts (e.g., an earlier negotiation or mediation). In short, elements of sequencing and interaction influence conflict management, even as scholars rarely consider such elements.This book will be of great value to scholars and researchers of Political Science, International Relations and Conflict Management and Resolution. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of International Interactions.

This book asks scholars to reexamine international conflict and its management—in order to move the field toward directly theorizing about and examining the interdependence between conflict events and conflict management attempts.Despite decades of work, research on international conflict and its management remains siloed in three fundamental ways. First, scholars do not thoroughly address international conflict dynamics within studies of conflict management, even though the former give rise to the latter. Second, existing work generally investigates one conflict management strategy (e.g., mediation) at the expense of others (e.g., adjudication). These strategies, however, are not independent of one another; they exist on a single menu from which potential third parties choose. Third parties therefore implicitly—if not explicitly—consider and select among the various strategies when deciding how to manage a conflict, thereby inviting and incorporating comparisons. Finally, researchers tend to treat conflict management efforts—even within the same conflict—as independent events, even though some efforts (e.g., adjudication or arbitration) follow and explicitly relate to other, earlier efforts (e.g., an earlier negotiation or mediation). In short, elements of sequencing and interaction influence conflict management, even as scholars rarely consider such elements.This book will be of great value to scholars and researchers of Political Science, International Relations and Conflict Management and Resolution. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of International Interactions.

As a rule, countries consider clearly defined international borders to be paramount for their survival and prosperity. Most borders gain definition peacefully and, once they do, these definitions stick (i.e., the border remains settled). The failure to define borders, however, produces protracted, geopolitical, militarized competitions (or rivalries) between neighboring countries. Rider and Owsiak model this failure as a particular type of bargaining problem - namely, bargaining over territory that affects the distribution of power between neighbouring states significantly - that undermines efforts to resolve border disagreements peacefully. Countries must then overcome this bargaining problem or risk falling into a protracted rivalry, which then needs to be addressed with more resources. The authors develop a theory of how borders settle. They then explore the consequences of the failure to settle, theoretically connecting it to the onset of rivalries. This leads to the process that helps rivals overcome the bargaining problem, resolve their border disagreement, and terminate their rivalry.

As a rule, countries consider clearly defined international borders to be paramount for their survival and prosperity. Most borders gain definition peacefully and, once they do, these definitions stick (i.e., the border remains settled). The failure to define borders, however, produces protracted, geopolitical, militarized competitions (or rivalries) between neighboring countries. Rider and Owsiak model this failure as a particular type of bargaining problem - namely, bargaining over territory that affects the distribution of power between neighbouring states significantly - that undermines efforts to resolve border disagreements peacefully. Countries must then overcome this bargaining problem or risk falling into a protracted rivalry, which then needs to be addressed with more resources. The authors develop a theory of how borders settle. They then explore the consequences of the failure to settle, theoretically connecting it to the onset of rivalries. This leads to the process that helps rivals overcome the bargaining problem, resolve their border disagreement, and terminate their rivalry.

International conflict has long plagued the world, and it continues to do so. With many interstate and civil disputes experiencing no third-party attempts at conflict management, how can the international community mitigate the effects of and ultimately end such violence? Why, in so many cases, are early, “golden opportunities” for conflict management missed? In this book, J. Michael Greig, Andrew P. Owsiak, and Paul F. Diehl introduce the varied approaches and factors that promote the de-escalation and the peaceful management of conflict across the globe—from negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and adjudication to peace operations, sanctions, and military or humanitarian intervention. The history, characteristics and agents of each approach are examined in depth, using a wide range of case studies to illustrate successes and failures on the ground. Finally, the book investigates how the various tools interact—both logically and sequentially—to produce beneficial or deleterious effects.