RECONFIGURING THE ARMS-RACE WAR DEBATE

A recent article by Susan Sample purports to resolve a debate that has generated a great deal of scholarly attention over the past two decad es, whether arms races are associated with the escalation of militariz ed disputes to war. In response, we outline a research agenda designed to reconfigure the arms race-war debate rather than to perpetuate the controversy We argue for better theoretical specification of the arms race-war relationship, and for empirical tests to sort out whether th is relationship is direct, indirect, or spurious. We also advocate som e methodological changes including more longitudinal studies, a broade r spatial domain to include minor powers, less reliance on military ex penditure data, and multivariate (rather than bivariate) rests of the arms race-war relationship.