ABSTRACT
In this chapter I critically evaluate three mainstream methods for understanding the causes of war: issues, interstate interaction and power analysis. Within these fields are a variety of approaches that may be utilized in explaining their relationship with conflict escalation and war, yet three emerge as the leading instruments-issues under contention, interstate reciprocity (also referred to as foreign policy reciprocity), and power transition theory. While each of these instruments offer the ability to independently analyze why the Iran-Iraq War occurred, an integrated approach to understanding interstate conflict escalation is pursued here. This approach, I argue, demonstrates that when taken together issues, interaction, and power capabilities lend themselves to a much richer account of the dyadic relationship between Iran and Iraq, and offer a more thorough explanation of why the war happened when it did.
