In any conflict between two countries escalation strategy controls the direction of the engagement. The initiation of conflict and its escalation depend upon who is in control of it and how it can be shaped or reshaped to dissipate the will of one's adversary. Once a conflict is started, the aggressor sets the benchmark and tone of its complexity.

The defending state can retaliate with a range of possibilities depending upon its historical friction with the aggressor, the dynamics of its internal security environment, its governance cum administrative structure and more importantly strength of its leadership. There are however two types of escalations which can happen in modern day warfare. The first one occurs in physical space while, side by side, the other unfolds in non-physical medium at multiple levels.

There are regions of convergence and divergence between the two escalations. The friction between these areas can provide room for future conflicts between two countries. A country which manages to expand its area of convergence between these........

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