The term international crisis is a widespread term without a single common definition. To some, it involves "a sequence of interactions between the governments of two or more sovereign states in severe conflict, short of actual war, but involving the perception of a dangerously high probability of war".

Types

Lebow gives a breakdown of three types of international crises: With the exception of a justification of hostilities, the study of international crises assumes that neither side actually wants to go to war, but must be visibly prepared to do so.

Strategies

George's book presents an overview of the process and conflicting goals of crisis management as well as many examples. He discusses a number of strategies, including:

Offensive strategies

Defensive strategies

List of defused crises

International crises tend to result in war, almost by definition; they are then remembered best not as crises but as causes of wars. For information on international crises that resulted immediately in war, see list of wars. Given the above, some of the crises that are best-known as crises were defused. The following crises did not immediately provoke large-scale violence, but set off anger in countries:

Ongoing crises