Cooperation and conflict among nations: An application of multi‐sample confirmatory factor analysis

The measurement of cooperation and conflict among nations differs greatly among several empirical studies of international relations. In the multidimensional approach to the measurement of both concepts, cooperation and conflict are considered to be unmeasured traits of various indicators in different areas of interest. Insight into the validity of the measurement theory can be gained from the fit of the estimated measurement model and from the estimates of the unknown parameters. These estimates are obtained through confirmatory factor analysis of data on observable policy Indicators of both concepts (see e.g., Jöreskog, 1969). The reliability of the estimated model can be investigated by means of multi‐sample confirmatory factor analysis, which allows one to fit a specified model to several data sets simultaneously. Maximum likelihood estimates of the unknown parameters of one‐sample and multi‐sample confirmatory factor analysis models, based on data available in COPDAB, can be obtained by using the LISREL‐VI program (see Jöreskog and Sörbom (1986). The results indicate that cooperation and conflict in foreign policies of nations have de‐escalating effects upon each other.