ABSTRACT
The steps-to-war explanation sees war as arising from the issues over which actors fight and how they handle those issues. Certain issues, namely territorial disputes, are seen as intrinsically more prone to war. Nevertheless, if any issue is handled in a certain manner, its probability of escalating to war is increased. If territorial issues are handled by resorting to the threat or use of force they are seen as particularly explosive. One way to examine the sequence and order of the steps theoretically is to assume a tabula rasa in which two states have no previous history. If these states are neighbors the territorial aspect of the steps-to-war explanation assumes that they are likely to establish their boundaries through the use of aggressive displays. The dependent variable is whether the current MID under contention or any other between the same two parties escalates to war within five years.
