ABSTRACT
The previous chapters of this book examined basic questions about a phenomenon-war-that, until very recently, appeared to dominate the study of politics. The statements by Hillenbrand and Mueller indicate that questions related to this topic deserve “close reasoning,” and that there is hope that this “institution” (war) can be eradicated.3 Unfortunately, without careful examination of indicators of war-prone behavior, such an eradication will not occur. It is to this task that we have turned in this book. Specifically, we examined questions related to the impact of weapons sales on war outbreak, involvement, termination, and other outcomes. These examinations brought forth new data analyses of the relationship between arms transfers at the global level, among supplier and recipient states, and by using military science techniques to examine bordering dyads.
