Push and Pull on the Periphery: Inadvertent Expansion in World Politics

Summary

Why do great powers engage in territorial expansion? Expansion is often seen as the result of choices by the leaders of powerful states. Yet nearly 25 percent of important historical instances of great power expansion have been initiated by actors on the periphery of the state or empire without authorization from the center. “Inadvertent expansion” is most likely to occur when leaders in the capital have limited control over their agents on the periphery and little fear of high costs.