| Power distribution and international status quo evaluations are two key explanatory variables on international conflict and cooperation in power transition theory. However, how to measure degrees of dissatisfaction with the international status quo is controversial. Since the 1990's, theorists mainly have focused on the security dimension, utilizing the alliance portfolio similarity or the existence of extraordinary military buildup to measure dissatisfaction with the status quo among great powers at the global level. Between the above two measures, the alliance portfolio similarity is more popular than the extraordinary military buildup. But, the applicability of the former measure for minor powers at regional levels is under debate. Inspired by the literature concerning international conflicts and regime types, this dissertation proposes to measure dissatisfaction with the international status quo from both the security and polity dimensions.;Utilizing regression analysis to examine international status quo evaluations globally and regionally from 1816 to 2000, this dissertation discovers the followings: First, a two-dimensional measure which includes both the similarity of alliance portfolios and polity is more accurate than the previous two measures. This improvement is more substantial at the regional level rather than the global level. Second, a model utilizing the two-dimensional measure for dissatisfaction with the status quo shows that the status quo evaluation is more influential than power distribution on international conflict and integration. |
