ABSTRACT
A process implies not only a set of stages, but also a sequence or an orderly series of stages over which something progressively reaches its ultimate development. The dominative encounter process outlined earlier is certainly no exception to this expectation. More specifically, dominative tiffs can spiral into dominative skirmishes, dominative skirmishes can, in turn, spiral into dominative engagements, which can still, in turn, spiral into dominative battles, which can still further, in turn, spiral into dominative campaigns, which can develop into wars. Despite the indisputable fact that dominative encounters can escalate, their escalation is far from preordained. Like most processes, the escalation of the dominative encounter process is always contingent and therefore dependent upon what happens during the course of its formation. More precisely, the completion of later stages in the process is necessarily contingent upon the finishing of earlier ones. If a process fails to reach its final point of completion, it is always because something has happened to prevent an earlier stage from being completed. Unsurprisingly, many more dominative encounters are started than ever are completed. If this were not the case, then we would have far more serious conflicts, including wars, than we already have. Few tiffs lead to skirmishes, even fewer skirmishes lead to engagements, and still fewer engagements lead to battles, and even fewer battles lead to campaigns, and still fewer campaigns lead to full-scale wars. Thus, the billion-dollar question is how and when do acting units decide whether to escalate a social conflict or dominative dispute and so move to the next higher stage of the dominative encounter process? Thus, 204in this chapter, I will seek to formulate as precisely as is possible the calculus used by opponents to decide whether to escalate a dominative encounter, making the situation even more complicated and risky for all concerned.
