ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the territorial explanation of war. Derived from The War Puzzle, the explanation begins with the well-known “fact” that neighbors are much more likely to fight than non-neighbors. It explains that pattern from a new theoretical perspective—that of human territoriality. It contrasts the logic and theoretical expectations of the territorial explanation with the two more common and accepted explanations of why neighbors fight—the proximity and interactions explanations. The chapter presents some limited evidence consistent with the territorial explanation and it evaluates each of the three explanations theoretically, making the case that the territorial explanation has certain merits over the others. The chapter concludes with some policy implications of the territorial explanation that shows its relevance to the emerging post-Cold War world as well as highlighting some of the explanation’s theoretical nuances and differences with realist approaches.
