Do Arms Races Lead to War?

Abstract

The link that may exist between the arms race phenomenon and the eventual outbreak of open warfare is not a new topic in peace science. Yet, in spite of the undoubted importance and interest of the subject, there have been remarkably few systematic attempts at integrating the analysis of arms races, on the one hand, and the study of the 'causes' of war, on the other. This paper offers a few preliminary and straightforward thoughts on this question, the aim being more to raise or emphasize a number of issues than to supply firm answers.