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The Location and Purpose of Wars Around the World: A New Global Dataset, 1816--2001

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  • Andreas Wimmer
  • Brian Min

Abstract

A critical question in the quantitative study of war is how to choose appropriate units of analysis. While most studies link wars to the sovereign states that fight them, several authors have recently offered alternative perspectives, focusing on the the properties of rebel organizations and armies or tracking events in fine-grained geographic spaces. We contribute to these developments by introducing a new dataset of wars fought from 1816--2001 on fixed territorial units of observation that conform to the grid of states in 2001. Compared to standard datasets, we expand the geographic purview to include states not recognized by the international system. We provide location codes that identify the territories on which conflicts are fought, which is especially important for the analysis of imperial wars and colonial rebellions. We also introduce a new typology of wars based upon the aims of warring parties rather than their status in the state system. This dataset is uniquely suited to explore new questions that cannot be addressed with other datasets. To illustrate, we test an institutionalist theory of war and show empirically that the types of wars fought in a territory depend on whether it is governed as a modern nation-state, an imperial dependency, or the center of an empire.

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  • Andreas Wimmer & Brian Min, 2009. "The Location and Purpose of Wars Around the World: A New Global Dataset, 1816--2001," International Interactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(4), pages 390-417, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ginixx:v:35:y:2009:i:4:p:390-417
    DOI: 10.1080/03050620903328837
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    Cited by:

    1. Cemal Eren Arbatlı & Quamrul H. Ashraf & Oded Galor & Marc Klemp, 2020. "Diversity and Conflict," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(2), pages 727-797, March.
    2. David S Siroky & Milos Popovic & Nikola Mirilovic, 2021. "Unilateral secession, international recognition, and great power contestation," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 58(5), pages 1049-1067, September.
    3. Agustín Goenaga & Oriol Sabaté & Jan Teorell, 2023. "The state does not live by warfare alone: War and revenue in the long nineteenth century," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 393-418, April.
    4. Cemal Eren Arbatli & Quamrul H. Ashraf & Oded Galor, 2015. "The Nature of Conflict," Department of Economics Working Papers 2015-08, Department of Economics, Williams College, revised Aug 2015.

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