Third Party Characteristics,Territory and the Mediation of Militarized Interstate Disputes

Abstract

In an effort to contribute to our knowledge of managing territorial disputes, I demonstrate the effects of territory on third party initiated mediation. My findings suggest that previous arguments regarding territorial disputes and mediation are too simplistic. Explaining the effects of territory without consideration of third party characteristics and interaction terms leads to a completely different set of conclusions about the nature of territorial disputes than when these two sets of variables are considered. An analysis of the two different empirical models suggests strong linkages between third party interests and territorial disputes compared to disputes over other issues.