Connecting international and domestic dots: how conflict entanglement informs resolution and escalation
International Journal of Conflict Management
ISSN: 1044-4068
Article publication date: 19 May 2023
Issue publication date: 15 January 2024
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to seek to and understand how civil conflict and international claims inform one another. Does the existence of ongoing civil and international conflicts affect how a government addresses an international claim? The paper builds on existing literature that link international and domestic conflict. However, it suggests that the logic behind civil conflicts may be different from that for international ones as states decide how to deal with any one claim.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper posits that states faced with domestic conflicts and additional international claims are more likely to seek to resolve an international claim than those without similar conflicts. It develops a series of hypotheses about the likelihood of claim escalation and peaceful settlement attempts and proceed to test them quantitatively using the Issue Correlates of War data combined with the uppsala conflict data program/peace research institute oslo Armed Conflict Data.
Findings
On the one hand, the paper finds support for the argument regarding the difficulty states are faced with when seeking to resolve multiple international claims. On the other hand, it finds that the presence of civil conflicts incentivizes states to resolve international claims either by force or peacefully, suggesting internal violence can both lead to diversionary behavior and attempts at conflict resolution.
Research limitations/implications
The findings have important implications for work considering the complexity of domestic and international conflict linkages.
Originality/value
While many studies of claim militarization and peaceful attempts focus on dyadic and international characteristics, this paper creates a more nuanced understanding of the complexities of this foreign policy decision process.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
A previous version of this paper was presented at the to the annual meeting of the International Studies Association, April 6th-9th, 2021, Las Vegas, Nevada. Authors would like to thank Paul Hensel for his helpful feedback on an earlier version of this paper.
Citation
Melin, M.M. and Grigorescu, A.V. (2024), "Connecting international and domestic dots: how conflict entanglement informs resolution and escalation", International Journal of Conflict Management, Vol. 35 No. 1, pp. 4-29. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCMA-12-2022-0203
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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