Territory, Proximity, and Spatiality: The Geography

This essay presents an overview of the literature on the ways in which space, spatiality, and proximity are theoretically important in the examination of international conflict behavior, for example, to agent-structure models of opportunity, notions concerning diffusion, the loss-of-strength gradient, and the effects of distance and space. The opportunity and willingness framework is used to organize both the literature and the discussion, which builds on Diehl’s (1991) seminal overview of geography and conflict. A recent theme of the annual meeting of the International Studies Association was ‘‘The Construction and Cumulation of Knowledge.’ ’ Both construction and cumu-lation of knowledge are central to the purposes of essays in the ‘‘Reflection, Eval-uation, Integration’ ’ section of this journal, with cumulation asking scholars to focus on the ways and the extent to which our collective theory and research endeavor has built upon itself. One approach to cumulation and integration involves bringing together the theory and research falling within broad cross-disciplinary categories