Escalation Trap

Type: Concept

As of November 2026, Escalation Trap has been mentioned in 3 episodes across 1 podcast, first heard Mar 2026 on The Diary Of A CEO. Key explanatory concept Pape uses to show why incremental attacks by strong states against weaker ones can produce perverse incentives and deeper, harder-to-stop escalation.

Conflict escalation is the process by which conflicts grow in severity or scale over time. That may refer to conflicts between individuals or groups in interpersonal relationships, or it may refer to the escalation of hostilities in a political or military context. In systems theory, the process of conflict escalation is modeled by positive feedback. Conflict escalation can be modeled with game theory. In contrast, de-escalation are approaches which lead to a decrease or end of a conflict.