Dynamics of Asymmetric Territorial Conflict The Evolution of Patience

by Resnick, Uri

• ISBN13: 9781137303981
• ISBN10: 1137303980
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781137303998
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-07-12
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
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Summary

This book provides a comprehensive study of asymmetric territorial conflict combining game theory, statistical empirical analysis and historiographic analysis. It proposes a model to explain the dynamics of territorial conflict between rivals with a wide disparity in capabilities between them.

Using the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a case study and testing the model on a database of almost four hundred territorial conflicts, Resnick argues that changes in 'patience' - explained by parallel evolutionary processes occurring in the respectively strong and weak societies – underlie the changing behaviour witnessed in such rivalries. Located within the general context of the interplay between material constraints and ideas, the theoretical significance of this model goes beyond the context of territorial conflict and can be seen to provide an explanation for the ideational aspects of power transitions and change in world politics.

This book constitutes a significant advance in the literature on territorial conflict, which has increasingly come to be recognized as a key field of enquiry in the discipline of conflict studies and international relations scholarship in general.

Author Biography

Uri Resnick has a PhD in International Relations from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. He has authored articles in conflict studies and on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has taught courses on Applied Game Theory at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Israel. An Israeli career diplomat, Resnick has served as a policy advisor to Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs and currently serves as Deputy Consul General of Israel in Los Angeles, USA.

Table of Contents

1. Mind and Matter: Material Foundations of Ideational Change
2. Explaining Territorial Conflict
3. Dynamics of Asymmetric Territorial Conflict: a Model
4. Asymmetric Territorial Conflicts: Empirical Analysis
5. Palestinian and Israeli Attitudes Towards Time
6. Policy Implications
7. Patience, Evolution and Change in World Politics
8. Conclusions
Appendix