Introduction 3
China after 1950, and Japan (from 1895–1945 and from 1991 on). If a dispute was
among major states only, then those dispute narratives are listed in the final chapter.
Each MID Entry
Each entry has several parts. First, the dispute number listed is the same identifier
that the CoW Project dataset uses to identify each conflict. I kept these numbers the
same to facilitate easy comparisons between the cases included here and the data they
provide.
The second line lists the overall dates of the dispute. Note that in disputes involving
more than two participants, each individual participant in the dispute may have later
dispute entry dates and earlier dispute exit dates than other disputants. The date listed
here includes only the timespan of the overall conflict.^1
Participants in the dispute are listed beginning on the third line, and they are orga-
nized according to what the CoW terms “Side A” versus “Side B” of the dispute. Those
participants included in Side A include the states that acted first in the conflict and any
allies, while Side B includes the states that were targeted along with their allies.
The outcome and settlement codes of a dispute provide some information about
how the conflict ended. Outcomes list whether one side “won” the dispute, whether
one side yielded to the other, whether there was a compromise or a stalemate, and
whether the conclusion was unclear. The settlement type includes codes for cases
of when conflict endings were imposed by the victorious side or whether there was
a negotiated settlement of some kind. Released disputes most often occur when the
initiating state frees the personnel or property that was seized in the conflict. Please
refer to the various CoW codebooks for fuller descriptions of all these codes (Jones,
Bremer, and Singer 1996; Palmer et al. 2015).
Fatalities are coded in ranges—none, 1–25 deaths, 26–50 deaths, 51–100 deaths,
101–250 deaths, 251–500 deaths, 501–999 deaths, and more than 999 deaths.
The CoW Project only codes military personnel who were killed—civilians are not
included—and wars are identified by those cases in which more than 999 military
deaths occurred. Again, refer to the various Correlates of War codebooks for fuller
descriptions of all these codes (Jones, Bremer, and Singer 1996; Palmer et al. 2015).
The narrative that describes each conflict represents the bulk of each dispute entry.
These range in length from one sentence for simple seizures and the like to ten or
more paragraphs for the more complicated conflicts. I used primary and secondary
sources to construct these narratives, but I encourage any readers who find errors with
the description of a case or coding to please contact me. Readers with great interest
in particular cases are also encouraged to consult the bibliography associated with
Gibler, Miller, and Little (2016).^2
Finally, a review of the original dispute data often led to suggestions in changes
to the original coding. The lines above the narrative describe what those suggested
changes were. If no changes were made, then the original data is listed. However, if
coding changes were made, these are described in the last line of each dispute entry.
(^1) The data entries are form Gibler, Miller, and Little (2017).
(^2) Available at http://dmgibler.people.ua.edu/