[COW] Extra-State War Data (v. 4.0)

By /

“The Correlates of War (COW) Project has utilized a classification of wars that is based upon the status of territorial entities, in particular focusing on those that are classified as members of the inter-state system (referred to as “states”). Wars have been categorized by whether they primarily take place between/among states, between/among a state(s) and a nonstate entity, and within states. This dataset encompasses wars in the middle category – wars that take place between a state(s) and a nonstate entity outside the borders of the state.” (codebook, p. 1)

Extra-StateWars_Codebook

I/ Conflict variable
I/1/ Unit of conflict

Event (< 0 or 1 death)Conflict (< 25 deaths)War (< 100 deaths)Episode (< 500 deaths)
∅X∅∅
“A nonstate entity can be considered a war participant if it either commits 100 armed personnel to the war or suffers 25 battle-related deaths.” (codebook, p. 2)

I/2/ Conflict domain

State-based conflictNon-state conflictOne-sided violenceTO BE DETERMINED
∅∅X∅
“As described by J. David Singer and Melvin Small in Wages of War and Resort to Arms, extra-state wars are of two general types: colonial and imperial. A colonial extra-state war occurs if the adversary is a “colony, dependency, or protectorate.”[…] In other words, these “colonial wars” tend to occur when a colony rebels and tries to become independent. In addition, in less extreme circumstances, the colonial people may resort to war to seek relief on a policy question (for example, the “Hut Tax War”), rather than seeking full-scale independence. All of these colonial wars are now categorized as war type 2. In imperial wars the system member fights an adversary that is, “an independent political entity that did not qualify for system membership because of serious limitations on its independence, a population insufficiency, or a failure of other states to recognize it as a legitimate member.”[…] These wars are now categorized as war type 3. In practice, most of our imperial wars involved a state’s attempt to colonize a previously independent geographic area, though extra-state wars can also be fought against non-territorially based entities.” (codebook, p. 4)

II/ Time variable
II/1/ Unit of time

DayYear
X∅
“StartDay1-
the day on which sustained combat began: -9 = day unknown” (codebook, p. 7)

II/2/ Time domain

Time domain
26/08/1816 – 31/03/2006

(Extra-StateWarData_v4.0.csv, 20/08/2022)

III/ Space variable
III/1/ Unit of space

CoordinatesCountryRegionTO BE DETERMINED
∅∅X∅
“WhereFought –
Region where combat occurred. Values are:
1 = W. Hemisphere
2 = Europe
4 = Africa
6 = Middle East
7 = Asia
9 = Oceania” (codebook, pp. 8-9)

III/2/ Space domain

GlobalMediterranean Sea and SahelTO BE DETERMINED
X∅∅
“WhereFought –
Region where combat occurred. Values are:
1 = W. Hemisphere
2 = Europe
4 = Africa
6 = Middle East
7 = Asia
9 = Oceania” (codebook, pp. 8-9)

IV/ Data structure
IV/1/ Unit of observation

Unit of conflict (UC)UC-yearUC-actorCountry-year
∅∅X∅
Actor-yearDyad-yearOTHERTO BE DETERMINED
∅∅∅∅
“In general there is one record for a war that identifies that primary state actor (Side A) and the nonstate participant(s) (Side B), and summarizes the war experience (in terms of dates, initiator, outcome, transformations, and state and nonstate combatant deaths). Separate records are included for each additional state war participant that describes the experience of that actor (dates, on which side it intervenes, and its battle deaths).” (codebook, p. 6)

IV/2/ Number of observations

Number of observations
198
“In the current version of the data, there are 163 extra-state wars.” (p. 4)

(Extra-StateWarData_v4.0.csv, 20/08/2022)

V/ All variables

Conflict nameConflict typeIntensity
XX∅
OutcomeTimeSpace
XXX
ActorType of actorDyad
XX∅
CoalitionDeathsNon-conflit variables
∅X∅
“WarName –
the name given to the war” (codebook, p. 7)
“WarType –
2= Colonial War; 3= Imperial War” (codebook, p. 7)
“Outcome: coded as:
1 – Side A wins
2 – Side B wins
3 – Compromise
4 – The war was transformed into another type of war
5 – The war is ongoing as of 12/31/2007
6 – Stalemate
7 – Conflict continues at below war level” (codebook, p. 8)
“StartDay1-
the day on which sustained combat began: -9 = day unknown” (codebook, p. 7)
“WhereFought –
Region where combat occurred. Values are:
1 = W. Hemisphere
2 = Europe
4 = Africa
6 = Middle East
7 = Asia
9 = Oceania” (p. 8)
“SideA –
the name of the participant on Side A of the war: -8=Not Applicable (no additional party on this side)” (codebook, p. 7)
“Initiator –
Did the participant on Side A initiate the war? 0=no, 1=yes” (codebook, p. 8)
“BatDeaths –
the battle-related combatant fatalities suffered by the state participant: -9= data unknown” (codebook, p. 8)

VI/ Transparency
VI/1/ Sources

Intergovernmental organizationsGovernmental organizationsNon-governmental organizations
∅∅∅
Research organizationsPress mediaSocial media
∅∅∅
Other databasesOTHERTO BE DETERMINED
∅∅X

VI/2/ Codebook

DateVersion
TO BE DETERMINED4.0
“Extra-state Wars (Version 4.0): Definitions and Variables by Meredith Reid Sarkees” (codebook, p. 1)

Extra-StateWars_Codebook-1

VII/ Update
VII/1/ Current version

DateVersion
08/12/20114.0
“The COW Project introduced COW Wars v4.0, 1816-2007 in 2010. The paper “The COW Typology of War: Defining and Categorizing Wars (Version 4 of the Data)” by Meredith Reid Sarkees gives an overview of the COW war typology, the descriptions of the basic variables, coding rules and some of the changes since “Resort to Arms.” In March 2010, the New COW War List was released. On June 30, 2010, the Non-State War Data (v4.0) became available. On October 28, 2010, the Intra-State War Data (v4.0) was released and on April 6, 2020 the Intra-State War Data (v5.1) became available online. On March 1, 2011, the Inter-State War Data (v4.0) became available online. Finally, we released the Extra-State War Data (v4.0) on December 8, 2011.” (https://correlatesofwar.org/data-sets/cow-war/, 01/10/2023)

VII/2/ Regularly updated ?

Real-timeMonthQuarterAnnually
∅∅∅∅
YES, PERIOD TO BE DETERMINEDTO BE DETERMINED
∅X

VIII/ Access
VIII/1/ Registration ?

YESNOTO BE DETERMINED
∅X∅

VIII/2/ Formats

.XLS/.XLSX.CSV.DTA (STATA).RDTA
∅X∅∅

(https://correlatesofwar.org/data-sets/cow-war/, 01/10/2023)

VIII/3/ API ?

YESNOTO BE DETERMINED
∅∅X