
Fuses, Chains, and Backlashes
China, the United States, and the Dynamics of Conflict Contagion and Escalation
Steve Chan(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
Published on 18. August 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
232 pages
978-0-19-781287-7 (ISBN)
Description
How do interstate conflicts start, spread and escalate? Not all local or regional rivalries develop into devastating multistate wars, but those that do cause upheaval across the world. It is important, therefore, to study causal chains and pathways that can trigger a conflict of international proportions.
Fuses, Chains, and Backlashes analyzes the factors and processes that have historically ignited wars among the great powers and applies the resulting insights to examine the potential for contemporary Sino-American competition to flare into conflict. Distinguished political scientist Steve Chan emphasizes the importance of considering multiple enabling conditions for system-level conflict, including power shifts, armament races, alliance dynamics, and enduring rivalries. But these conditions in themselves do not always lead to war. Chan introduces the idea of a catalyst--or fuse--that ignites the combustible mixture produced by these variables' interactions. He traces the origins of many large conflagrations to local feuds-such as the dispute across the Taiwan Straits--which in turn invite intervention by third parties--like the United States. By analyzing possible causal pathways to interstate war and applying this historical, empirical context to the present-day relationship between the US and China, Chan hopes to help us learn from the past and avoid future catastrophe.
Fuses, Chains, and Backlashes analyzes the factors and processes that have historically ignited wars among the great powers and applies the resulting insights to examine the potential for contemporary Sino-American competition to flare into conflict. Distinguished political scientist Steve Chan emphasizes the importance of considering multiple enabling conditions for system-level conflict, including power shifts, armament races, alliance dynamics, and enduring rivalries. But these conditions in themselves do not always lead to war. Chan introduces the idea of a catalyst--or fuse--that ignites the combustible mixture produced by these variables' interactions. He traces the origins of many large conflagrations to local feuds-such as the dispute across the Taiwan Straits--which in turn invite intervention by third parties--like the United States. By analyzing possible causal pathways to interstate war and applying this historical, empirical context to the present-day relationship between the US and China, Chan hopes to help us learn from the past and avoid future catastrophe.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 159 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
345 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-781287-7 (9780197812877)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Steve Chan
Fuses, Chains, and Backlashes
China, the United States, and the Dynamics of Conflict Contagion and Escalation
Book
09/2025
Oxford University Press Inc
€79.30
Shipment within 15-20 days

Steve Chan
Fuses, Chains, and Backlashes
China, the United States, and the Dynamics of Conflict Contagion and Escalation
E-Book
05/2025
OUP eBook
€21.99
Available for download

Steve Chan
Fuses, Chains, and Backlashes
China, the United States, and the Dynamics of Conflict Contagion and Escalation
E-Book
05/2025
OUP eBook
€21.99
Available for download
Person
Steve Chan received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1976. He has taught at Bowling Green State University, University of Maryland, and Texas A&M University before arriving at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He has had visiting teaching or research appointments in China, France, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan.
Author
Professor Emeritus, Political ScienceProfessor Emeritus, Political Science, University of Colorado, Boulder
Content
1: Introduction to the Dynamics of Conflict Contagion and Escalation
2: Local Rivalries as Possible Fuses for Larger Conflicts
3: Alliances as Balls and Chains on Conflict Contagion
4: The Backlash Effects of Self-Defeating Policies
5: The Dynamics of Sino-American Tension
References
Index
2: Local Rivalries as Possible Fuses for Larger Conflicts
3: Alliances as Balls and Chains on Conflict Contagion
4: The Backlash Effects of Self-Defeating Policies
5: The Dynamics of Sino-American Tension
References
Index