Conflict and Escalation in Lebanon

Download or read book Conflict and Escalation in Lebanon written by Karen A. Rasler and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 616 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this study was to examine the dynamics of conflict escalation by systematically testing a number of hypotheses which have filtered through much o f the theoretical literature on conflict within the context of the Lebanese Civi l War using an events data approach. In addition to the theoretical questions of escalation, a historical descriptive analysis of the civil war was provided to complement the quantitative/analytical aspects of the discussion. Hence, the obj ectives of the study were twofold: first, to fill the descriptive void of what l ittle information there is about the Lebanese Civil War and second, to test theo retical propositions about the dynamics of conflict escalation. The theoretical topics--each of which constituted a chapter in the dissertation--encompassed exp lanations which: (1) specified links between governmental repression/coercion an d political violence; (2) examined the links between internal strife and externa l intervention; and (3) identified and described crisis behavior. The more outst anding empirical results yielded the information outlined in the thesis text.