Research has shown that democracies rarely, if ever, engage each other in war and are less likely to have militarized disputes than when interacting with authoritarian regimes. Economic sanctions are an alternative to militarized conflict viewed by the masses as more acceptable. The...

International relations scholars have garnered a good deal of evidence indicating that binding arbitration and adjudication are highly effective means for brokering agreements and ending conflict. However, binding third-party conflict management is rarely pursued to resolve interstate disputes...

Contentious issues are important sources of militarized conflict. This article advances an issue-based approach to world politics, focusing on disagreements over territory, maritime zones, and cross-border rivers. We characterize militarized conflict and peaceful techniques as substitutable...

We present lessons and best practices for conflict data collection from the experiences of the ICOW project. Lessons include the development of a search strategy for potential events, the consultation of a broad range of sources, and recognition of the limitations of these sources. More general...

Purpose – Research on emotion in the context of risk perception has historically focused on negative emotions, and has emphasized the effect of these negative emotions on the perception of risk amongst those who oppose (rather than support) contentious issues. Drawing on theory, the purpose of...

The present paper explicitly models the principal-agent relationship between a democratic population and its elected representative within a standard war bargaining setup. I find that the specific structure of this relationship and the problems resulting from it help overcome information...

At least since 1750 when Baron de Montesquieu declared peace is the natural effect of trade, a number of economists and political scientists espoused the notion that trade among nations leads to peace. Employing resources wisely to produce one commodity rather than employing them inefficiently...