Knowledge Bank

Douglas Gibler currently studies territoriality and the effect of borders on regime type and state behavior. In doing so, he also deals directly with the issue of joint democracy and its effects on interstate peace and conflict. Gibler pointed out the importance of contiguity and the extent to which borders between two states are settled and how it they predict peaceful relations between them. A significant portion of all militarized disputes occur between contiguous states. In fact, nearly 90% of wars that took place between 1815 and 1980 were fought between neighbors. Gibler said that among the causes of these wars, territorial issues were the most prominent.