ABSTRACT
The paradigm case of bilateral conflict during the Cold War period was the arms race. So long as tensions remained between the superpowers in Europe, arms levels remained high, despite many years of negotiations. Arms race theory maintains that mutual arms buildups create such an acute sense of insecurity that a nation might be induced to start a war preemptively. Arms race theories that ignore politics cannot say whether a safer world is a cause or a consequence of arms cuts, just as they cannot say whether a more dangerous world is a cause or a consequence of arms acquisitions. Theories of conflict and peace that focus on a particular kind of behavior, such as arms races or alliance formations, tend to ignore the variety of ways in which states might be provoked and the full range of responses available to them.
