Mutual escalation between armed parties can enlarge victim circles far past the combatants.

Evidence

In both Argentina and Cambodia, the form of the evolution was not simply increasing violence against the victim group but a cycle of increasing violence between opposing parties. In Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge and government forces fought each other with increasing brutality from 1970 to 1975. In Ar­ gentina, left-wing guerrilla groups abducted and killed people, blew up build­ ings, and created chaos, while right-wing death squads were killing people identified as left-wing enemies. In both cases one of these parties became the perpetrator of extreme violence. The circle of victims was tremendously en­ larged beyond those who participated in the initial cycle of violence. — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 133

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Practiced violence systematically widens to ever-larger victim circles. — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide: The Social…, 132; Escalating threat levels themselves stem from structures of mutual mistrust. — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 1268; Political extremists on both sides sustain each other through reciprocal escalation. (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Political extremists on both sides sustain each other through reciprocal escalation. #exemplifies (0.85)
• Gruesome symbolic atrocities can provoke escalation to total war against perpetrators #exemplifies (0.78) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2456
• Limited war deters partly by exposing both sides to uncontrollable risk of escalation #expands (0.75) — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 425
• Widespread personal exposure to violence and its link to paramilitary support make conflict intractable. #expands (0.74) — Miles Hewstone and Ed Cairns and Alberto Voci and Juergen Hamberger and Ulrike Niens, Intergroup Contact, Forgiveness, and…, 110
• Bases surrounding a rival power provoke dangerous escalation #exemplifies (0.73)
• Escalating threat levels themselves stem from structures of mutual mistrust. #qualifies (0.72) — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 1268
• A single murder becomes a proxy battleground where rival framers weaponize the victim. #exemplifies (0.72) — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 576