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Chain ganging is a term in the field of international relations describing the elevated probability for interstate conflict or conflagration due to several states having joined in alliances or coalitions.
The agreed principles of such alliances typically include mutual defence clauses requiring that, in the case of one member state suffering military attack from another power, all members must declare hostilities against that offending power. The result of such an arrangement is an elevated probability for an international conflagration, since the case of an actor attacking another power would almost certainly trigger, whether intentionally or not, a multinational conflict potentially involving many more actors than the original two states which had attacked and been attacked, respectively.
According to sworn agreements or treaties no member state has the option to refuse to participate in this involvement: once the states have agreed to the alliance, they are bound by obligation to join in the hostilities or conflagration as soon as they have begun in one state (though this obligation is not always honoured).
Chain ganging is believed to be most effective in a scenario with a multipolar balance of power where the allied states have a military advantage over potential enemies.[1] Chain ganging is also often discussed in relation and comparison to its counterpart Buck passing. Both are derived from Neorealism and are existent in a multipolar system but chain ganging requires aggressive state behaviour to occur.[1]