Unresolved Strategic Rivalries by US Combatant Command

References & Sources

Graphic created by research assistant Rich Rehberg.

1. Primary source (rivalry data — Table F.1)
   Mazarr, Michael J., Alexis Dale-Huang, John Deak, Gregory Weider Fauerbach, Stacie Goddard, Timothy R. Heath, and Joshua Shifrinson, The Fates of Nations: Varieties of Success and Failure for Great Powers in Long-Term Rivalries, RAND Corporation, RR-A2611-2, 2024. ISBN 978-1-9774-1269-0. www.rand.org/t/RRA2611-2
2. Underlying rivalry database
   William R. Thompson and David R. Dreyer, Handbook of International Rivalries, 1494–2010, CQ Press, 2012 (cited in the report as Thompson and Dreyer, 2013) — the source of the 165 bilateral rivalries coded in RAND Table F.1.
3. Basemap — U.S. combatant command areas of responsibility
   Unified Combatant Commands map, based on the US Department of Defense Unified Command Plan; image via Wikimedia Commons (Unified_Combatant_Commands_map.svg).
4. Selection criteria & scope note
   “Unresolved” competitions are the 42 of 165 rivalries in Table F.1 that record a start year but no end year. Each is grouped by the geographic combatant command in whose area of responsibility the rivalry primarily plays out; cross-AOR rivalries (e.g., India–Pakistan, Russia–United States) are assigned by geographic locus.