Territorial Conflict Analysis

Territorial conflict analysis tests the proposition — central to the 'territorial explanation of war' — that what states fight over matters, and that disputes over territory are especially war-prone. Vasquez and Henehan (2001) operationalize this by coding disputes for the issue at stake (territory, policy, regime) and comparing how often each type escalates to war. The consistent finding that territorial disputes are more likely to lead to war than other kinds reframes the study of conflict around the contested issue rather than only the attributes of the disputants.