ARCADE (Arms Races Conflict Analysis and Database) is the acronym of the research project Competitive Arming and Militarised Disputes: A Case Study of Greece and Turkey from 1833 to Present. The project represents the very first comprehensive analysis of the armaments competition between modern Greece and the Ottoman Empire/Turkey and its association with the outbreak of armed conflict among these countries.
The study of the arms races phenomenon has been suffering by the division between quantitative and qualitative approaches. The ARCADE project sets out to overcome this scientific deadlock by adopting the very first interdisciplinary approach to the subject of armaments competition. The focus is on the case of modern Greece and Ottoman Empire/Turkey as these two countries have a long-time engagement into competitive arming and a history of conflicts preceded by arms races, while representing an almost neglected case in the academic literature.
Thus, we assembled a research team of young and promising researchers with expertise on different academic fields, such as international relations and strategic studies, history, economics, and statistical analysis. The team focuses on answering two important questions: what forces gave rise to and sustained the competition in armaments between Greece and the Ottoman Empire/Turkey, and what was the relationship between competitive arming and the outbreak of the Greek-Turkish armed conflicts?
Answering these questions is all the more important in our days, when arms spending is again up globally. The Russo-Ukrainian War rekindled competitive armaments in Europe; the countries around the South China Sea are embroiled in an arms race; while Greece and Turkey are on a military spending spree. All these developments render the study of the origins and consequences of arms races imperative.
The ARCADE project aspires to have a scientific, as well as a social impact, by providing insights into the factors that lead to arms races and their link to war. With that goal in mind, the present website aims to function as a focal point for the study of arms races through the establishment of a database, and as a forum for discussing the Greek-Turkish armaments competition.
The project is carried out in the Department of Political Science and International Relations of the University of the Peloponnese, with the cooperation of The Sir Michael Howard Centre for the History of War at King’s College London and of the Institute of International Relations of Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences.
The research project is financially supported by a research grant from the Hellenic Foundation for Research & Innovation (H.F.R.I.)
