146 International Relations Theory of War
Maintaining the territorial status quo in bipolar systems. All three wars that
occurred under the various three instances of bipolarity ended with main-
taining the territorial status quo that occurred before the outbreak of the
war: the First Anglo-Afghan War (1838–1842), which was fought in the
bipolar system of 1816–1848; the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–1880),
which was fought in the bipolar system of 1871–1909; and, the Soviet-
Afghan War (1979–1988), which was fought in the bipolar system of
1946–1991.
The territorial expansion of the hyperpower in unipolar system. In the test case
that occurred under the single instance of unipolarity, the war ended with the
territorial expansion of the hyperpower, the United States, at the end of the war:
the U.S.-Afghan War (2001), which was fought under the unipolar system of
1992–2016.
Territorial nonexpansion of great powers in multipolar systems. In the test case
that occurred under the instance of multipolarity, the war ended with the terri-
torial nonexpansion of the polar power Great Britain at the end of the war: the
Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919), which was fought in the multipolar system of
1910–1945.
The territorial outcomes of these five test cases correspond with the
study hypotheses. In the unipolar system, the polar power the United
States expanded territorially as the sole hyperpower in the system at
the end of the war. In the bipolar systems, the territorial status quo that
occurred before the war was maintained in all three wars (the First and
Second Anglo-Afghan Wars and the Soviet-Afghan War). In the Third
Anglo-Afghan war too, which was fought in the multipolar system, the
territorial status quo preceding the war was maintained.
TERRITORIAL OUTCOMES OF THE WARS OF
POLAR POWERS—INTERIM SUMMARY
Table 4.18 shows the degree of territorial expansion of the polar pow-
ers under the six instances of the three different polarity models, 1816–
2016, according to the international relations theory of war.
Table 4.19 summarizes the degree of territorial expansion of the polar
powers under the three different polarity models, 1816–2016, according to
the international relations theory of war.
Table 4.20 concentrates the degree of territorial expansion of the
polar powers at the end of the wars they participated in under the
three possible polarity models. The table shows the degree to which
the results correspond with the forecast of the international relations theory
of war.
Table 4.21 shows the main wars in which the polar powers were
involved under the six instances of the three possible polarity models
and their territorial outcomes.