Motivations for conflict management are rarely discussed in terms of commitments that potential third-parties have toward one or both disputants. The current study addresses this lacuna by examining how the design of alliances affects conflict management behavior. In particular, we argue that third-party states’ willingness to manage interstate conflicts depends on both the existence of an alliance relationship and the depth of that relationship. We test this argument using data on conflict
management within militarized interstate disputes during the period 1946-2000. We find that allies are more likely than non-allies to manage their partner’s disputes. Underneath this aggregate relationship, however, we also find that the depth of alliance commitments strongly influences this behavior. Deeper commitments – both across and within alliance types – increase the likelihood of conflict management significantly