TIME PRESSURE AND WAR INITIATION - SOME LINKAGES

This article examines the linkages by which time pressure influences n ational decision makers to initiate wars. It is argued that time press ure matters most significantly as an intervening variable at the decis ion-maker level in conjunction with system and subsystem level variabl es, such as changes in relative strike capability and alliance relatio nships, and state level variables like military strategy and doctrine. Most studies treat time pressure as having relevance during an acute crisis; in this article, time pressure is viewed as having an intermed iate-term significance, that is, prior to the escalation phase or duri ng the early phase of a crisis. It is shown that independent variables such as relative capability, alliance relationships and military doct rines are most likely to be associated with war initiation when they a re mediated by time pressure. The article also distinguishes between i mmediate time pressure-that occurs during the escalation phase of a cr isis-and intermediate time pressure, which can happen prior to, and at the onset phase of a crisis.