Wars of the World: Evaluating the Global Conflict Structure During the Years 1816-2001 Using Social Network Analysis

This paper explores the application of dynamic network analysis techniques to the area of historical martial conflict analysis. The goal is to provide input for the area of quantitative historic analysis, specifically the study of armed conflicts. Concepts from (dynamic) network analysis literature are applied to derive information on historical conflict development as well as on the definition of actor roles involved in the conflicts. Thus, network centrality measures as well as dynamic properties related metrics are examined towards their relevance for the identification of military conflict mechanics.