The Cod Wars between Iceland and Great Britain ran from 1952 to 1976 and escalated three times during that time period.1 This article focuses on the Cod Wars cod war between Great Britain and Iceland from 1972 to 1976, however a brief history of the previous conflicts is necessary to understand the critical period analyzed. The conflict arose from “Iceland's extension of fishing limits from three to four nautical miles in 1952”2, largely due to the decline in available marine resources on which Iceland “long depended in large part.”3 “The disappearance of herring in Icelandic waters, combined with a decline in export prices between 1966 and 1968, led to a decline in real income per capita of more than 16%”4, therefore the Iceland found it necessary to extend fishing limits to preserve their herring economy. Britain's initial reaction to Iceland's extension of fishing limits was to ban the processing of Icelandic fish in the United Kingdom.5 In retaliation, Iceland turned to the Soviets; a large importer of Icelandic fish and “by 1955 the Soviet Union was the largest importer of Icelandic fish and had replaced Great Britain as Iceland's second largest trading partner”. diplomatic rapprochement” between Iceland and the Soviet Union7 which aroused concern among the members of the OEEC (European Organization for Economic Co-operation, renamed OECD - Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development). To prevent a strengthening of relations between the Soviet Union and a Western state, the OEEC “formed an informal group of negotiators who managed to prepare a resolution of... medium of paper...): 3061 -3066. http://www.jstor.org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/stable/4409655.Jervis, Robert. “Cooperation under the security dilemma.” World Politics, Cambridge University Press. NO. 2 (1978): 167-214. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2009958.Allison, Graham T. “Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis.” The American journal of political science. NO. 3 (1969): 689-718. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1954423.Hellman, Gunther and Benjamin Herborth. “Fishing in the Mild West: Democratic Peace and Militarized Interstate Disputes in the Transatlantic Community.” Review of International Studies, Cambridge University Press. NO. 3 (2008): 481-506. http://www.jstor.org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/stable/40212486Snyder, Jack. "One world, rival theories". Foreign Policy, Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, LLC. NO. 145 (2004): 52-62. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4152944