Suchergebnisse

The radicalization of individuals & groups is discussed. While there has been considerable research on why individuals join radical groups & why different groups & individuals engage in violence, there has been little attention devoted to why groups adopt nonviolent strategies & the relationship between these nonviolent strategies & violence. Insights derived from learning theory are employed to explain & predict the strategies that will be adopted by radical groups & the sequence in which they will be adopted, given various environmental conditions. A formal model of radical social movements is presented & applied in detail to the American anti-Vietnam War movement. The case study, though strictly a theoretical analysis, lends considerable credence to numerous propositions in the model. Through the use of the model, the gap between the antiwar movement formation & movement strife is filled. Modified HA.

The scientific study of war has largely ignored necessary conditions for war onset. Conflict scholars have previously identified alliances as a mechanism that brings about the initial expansion of war but have not examined whether it is a prerequisite for large wars. We argue that wars diffuse into multiparty wars only in the presence of alliances. In other words, in the absence of any alliance ties, war would not include more than two parties. We put forth a theoretical rationale for this relationship and conduct a series of tests on both dyadic and multiparty wars between 1816 and 2007. These tests provide support for our hypothesis, suggesting that alliances are a virtual necessary condition for multiparty wars: the larger the war, the more likely alliances are a necessary condition.