Heavy escalation often persists or recurs when new issues arise. There are three parts to this explanation.
The first is that the cycle of escalation, like any vicious circle, tends to be self-perpetuating.
The second part of the explanation is that there are many mechanisms that cause structural changes to persist, once they are formed. Some are psychological processes that reinforce hostile attitudes and perceptions. These include:
Other mechanisms cause hostile goals to persist. The desire for revenge, for example, is kept alive by hatred and dysphonic rumination about past insults and deprivations.
In addition to the above, hostile group norms tend to be perpetuated by social pressure. And militant subgroups and their leaders sometimes engineer the continuation of the conflict that has brought them to power, so they can continue to dominate the wider group.
Escalated conflicts also persist because communities once polarized are hard to reunite. Once crosscutting organizations are destroyed and potential mediators have taken sides, the political processes that guard against civil strife are gone, and the result is continued polarization.
The third part of the explanation concerns entrapment processes whereby individuals and groups become committed to self-destructive tactics. Commitments that were made with an initial modicum of restraint too often become traps that produce a needless waste of precious resources and even lives. Strategies to avoid entrapment include: