Meanings
plural catalytic wars
- A war initiated by one party and continued by others.
Indeed a catalytic war seems much more likely to be touched off by a desperate or vengeful power than an ambitious one.
1968, United States Air Force Academy. Department of Political Science, Mark E. Smith, American Defense Policy (page 91)1 more example
By this definition, World War I was a catalytic war, set off by Serbia and Austria, which also had some overtones of "reciprocal fear of surprise attack" and "self-fulfilling prophecy," because the side which mobilized first was likely to win.
1966, Richard A. Falk, Saul H. Mendlovitz, The Strategy of World Order: Toward a theory of war prevention, page 30
Cite this entry
catalytic war. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/catalytic%20war
“catalytic war.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/catalytic%20war. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “catalytic war,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/catalytic%20war.
Source: catalytic war on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.