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Multidisciplinary perspectives and case studies of the management of internecine, local, and regional wars; 14 articles. Angola, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Lebanon, Cyprus, and the Arab-Israeli conflict; US-Soviet cooperation, and the role of regional organizations.

Abstract
Why are some regions more peaceful than others? Some regions are particularly plagued by traditional power politics and political tensions, while the danger of war between major actors has significantly declined in other regions. The conventional literature would answer the question from a dyadic perspective—a region with many states with certain set of traits, such as democracy, should be peaceful. However, it is ultimately an empirical question whether the prevalence of power politics and conflict can be solely explained by the type of states and dyads in a region. I argue that the nature of international interactions is shaped by regional-level environment. Due to local security externalities, dyadic politics and conflict is dependent on conditions in a local neighborhood. More specifically, this study focuses on the role of regional-level alliance structure. A region can be situated in various types of alliance configuration depending on global geopolitical climate. I argue that conflict is unlikely in a region in which a global power establishes hegemonic domination through alliance ties with local states. The presence of an external global power dominating a region provides a local enforcement mechanism and reassurance for local states, which in turn reduces hostile interactions among local states. To examine how the regional-level conditions influence dyadic-level politics among local states, this paper empirically analyzes political events data (Integrated Data for Events Analysis) applying multilevel modeling, aiming at contributing the literature by explicitly modeling the influence of regional-level variables on local politics beyond militarized disputes. Empirical analysis revealed that a regionally shared "patron" can promote peace between local states. However, the effect of regional hierarchy turned out to be indirect. Regional dominance structured by an external global power does not exert an overarching influence over an entire region by shifting the region-specific intercept. Rather, the regional-level global power domination in terms of defense pacts particularly influences powerful states in a region while not quite reducing hostility among "minor" local states. Thus, international conflict and hostility is indirectly constrained in a region under hegemonic domination by a global power. This study has empirically explored an argument that it is fruitful to go beyond a purely dyadic analysis of international conflict. The independent effect of a spatial environment means that even similar dyads may behave differently depending on the conditions surrounding them. It shows a need to reexamine some of the important findings about international conflict from a spatial perspective, taking into account macro-regional contexts within which states operate. Moreover, the introduction of regional contexts potentially bridges a gap between quantitative studies of international conflict and more area-specific studies.

Shifts in the international distribution of economic and military power have created new centres of growth and conflict in the world's peripheries. The rise of different forms of regionalism is an indication of the fragmentation of international order. That is why there are substantive reasons to focus on political, economic and military discontinuities in international relations. There is a rich research tradition in the study of international relations and peace research which can be utilized in the analysis of regional subsystems and of their bearing on international conflict and integration. Unruliness in the world's peripheries cannot be accounted for primarily by the structure of the international system or by the policies of major powers. Conflict formations are naturally shaped by the impact of the capitalist world economy and by the economic and strategic penetration by major powers into the Third World, but ultimately these conflicts have their roots in domestic and regional circumstances. The most comprehensive picture of the causes and processes of peripheral conflict formations can be obtained by investigating the interaction of specific regional conditions with the constraining or instigating role of global forces. This interaction is a two-way street in that the relations between major powers are also affected by peripheral regional conflicts in which they have become entangled in a competitive fashion. In fact the failure of detente can be partly explained by the assertiveness of the Third World which has resulted in a new situation which major powers cannot manage efficiently enough in their foreign policies or mutual relations.

Effects of shifts in the international distribution of economic and military power on conflict in the world's peripheral regions; based on conference paper.