Rivalries and the democratic peace in the major power subsystem

Strategic rivalry dyads facilitate conflict, while democratic dyads constra in conflict. Which effect is more powerful Examining conflict (militarized disputes and war) in the major power subsystem (1816-1992), both types of r elationships are statistically significant predictors of conflict, and both employed together are more powerful than either used separately. Of the tw o, rivalry information provides the more powerful predictor, but this expla natory advantage is eroding over time. Mixed dyads are also found to be mor e conflictual than either autocratic or democratic dyads. There are implica tions for monadic and systemic interpretations of the democratic peace that receive brief mention, but the main implication is that we need to be care ful about not giving too much credit to regime type alone for bringing abou t more pacific interactions in dyadic relations. Domestic institutions oper ate within external environments that condition their effects un foreign po licies. To best explain conflict, we need information on both domestic and external environments.