| In response to Russett and Oneal's (2001) "triangulation" of the peace, I have attempted to build an interactive foreign policy decision-making process model with a special emphasis on four additional factors---civil-military relations, conscription, diplomatic channels and media openness. This is what is meant by the 'look beyond' in the title of the dissertation. Empirical results from both logit and neural network models indicate that media openness, not democraticness (as measured primarily through the degree of constraint on the chief executive), is a key element in accounting for both MID involvement and MID-related casualties. Further, I have found that peace researchers need to 'quadrangulate' the peace in specific ways: (1) the more powerful military leadership within civil-military relations, the more likely dyads are to become involved in MIDs or experience MID-related casualties; (2) under a conscription system, dyads are more likely to engage in MIDs; and (3) more diplomatic channels in a dyad may unexpectedly indicate the potential for an increase in the occurrence of MIDs or MID-related casualties. |
