Systemic wars and dyadic wars: No single theory∗

Abstract

It is suggested that systemic and non‐systemic wars are theoretically distinct forms of international conflict behavior. Arguments are initially drawn from a comparison between mass or social revolutions and systemic wars. These domestic and international instances of widespread conflict are suggested to be comparable as are coups and non‐systemic (mostly dyadic) wars. Other analyses are drawn from the distinction between structural and mobilization wars as sub‐categories of the systemic war and the etiologies of both the social revolution and systemic war. The growth in systemic constraints over time prior to a structural systemic war is an important distinction between it and the dyadic war.