Conflict escalation The term conflict escalation describes the process by which a conflict becomes more destructive , confrontational , painful , or otherwise serious over time . This 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 . While the word " escalation " was used as early as in 1938 , it was popularized during the Cold War by two important books : " On Escalation " ( Herman Kahn , 1965 ) and " Escalation and the Nuclear Option " ( Bernard Brodie , 1966 ) . In these contexts , it especially referred to war between two states with weapons of mass destruction — the Cold War . Conflict escalation has a tactical role in military conflict , and is often formalized with explicit rules of engagement . Highly successful military tactics exploit a particular form of conflict escalation ; for example , controlling an opponent ' s reaction time allows the tactician to pursue or trap his opponent . Napoleon and Heinz Guderian both advocated this approach . Sun Tzu elaborated it in a more abstract form , and additionally maintained that military strategy was about minimizing escalation , and diplomacy about eliminating it . Continuum of Force . The United States Marine Corps ' " Continuum of Force " ( found in MCRP 3 - 02B ) documents the stages of Conflict escalation in combat for a typical subject . They are : The subject responds to and obeys verbal commands . He refrains from close combat . The subject resists verbal commands but complies to commands immediately upon contact controls . He refrains from close combat . Initially , the subject physically resists commands , but he can be made to comply by compliance techniques ; these include come - along holds , soft - handed stunning blows , and techniques inducing pain by joint manipulation and pressure points . The unarmed subject physically attacks his opponent . He can be controlled by certain defensive tactics , including blocks , strikes , kicks , enhanced pain compliance procedures , impact weapon blocks and blows . The subject has a weapon and will likely kill or injure someone unless controlled . This is only possible by lethal force , which possibly requires firearms or weapons . Preventing conflict escalation . A major focus of peace and conflict theory is concerned with curbing conflict escalation or creating a mindset to avoid such conflict in future , and instead engaging in peacemaking . Much nonviolent conflict resolution , however , involves conflict escalation in the form of protest s , strikes , or other direct action s . Mohandas Gandhi , a major theorist of nonviolence , used satyagraha to demonstrate that : With this method of escalation , Gandhi avoided technological escalation and demonstrated to those in power that : Systems view . Gandhi himself did not elaborate these observations on nonviolent strategy ; Carol Moore , a later theorist , examined and described Gandhi ' s methods from the perspective of systems theory . Jay Forrester and Donella Meadows observed that people in crisis would often push the twelve leverage points towards escalation in the first stage , and then reduce escalation when the resistance had weakened and it was impossible to maintain the status quo .