Introduction

This is the introductory chapter of the book, which evaluates the means that have been used to influence the course of six recent international disputes, considering the costs and benefits in each case. In a broader context, the book examines the relationship of local conflict to international security and considers the dilemma of providing security to small states without compromising their independence. Finally, the book assesses the extent to which local wars tend to escalate and threaten the global security system. The postwar international system has been characterized by international revolutions that have made indivisibility and collective enforcement very problematic. These postwar "revolutions" undermined the operation of collective international security. Bipolarity and nuclear weapons worked against indivisibility and effective collective enforcement. Newly independent states suffer from what might be called a double security dilemma. Whereas most governments find their security endangered from without, these governments face equally serious threats from within.