{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T01:29:41Z","timestamp":1760059781106,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,8]],"date-time":"2025-07-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1751932800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["72301288","72421002"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["72301288","72421002"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Systems"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In this article, to address the uncertainty of preference information in interrelated conflicts in the real world, a hierarchical conflict modeling and analysis approach based on hesitant fuzzy linguistic term sets (HFLTSs) is proposed. First, considering the hesitancy and fuzziness of decision makers (DMs) when expressing preferences in hierarchical conflicts, a preference representation approach based on HFLTSs is introduced. Building upon hesitant fuzzy linguistic preference, four distinct types of hesitant fuzzy stability definitions of the two-level hierarchical graph model for conflict resolution (HGMCR) are extended, and a corresponding algorithm is developed to solve the global conflict hesitant fuzzy equilibrium states. Finally, this study is applied to investigate the outbreak and development of a specific international conflict, verifying the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed approach. The hesitant fuzzy equilibrium states of an international conflict indicate that the attitudes of domestic forces reflect a nation\u2019s performance in the warand that the conflict may endure for an extended duration. The hierarchical conflict modeling and analysis approach based on HFLTSs allows DMs to express the hesitation and fuzziness of preferences under uncertainty, facilitates the comprehension of the intrinsic logic behind interactions among DMs at various levels, and enhances the analysis to achieve more foresighted equilibria.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/systems13070557","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,8]],"date-time":"2025-07-08T11:58:07Z","timestamp":1751975887000},"page":"557","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Hierarchical Modeling and Analysis of an International Conflict Based on Hesitant Fuzzy Linguistic Term Sets"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-8534-9242","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Junji","family":"Hao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Systems Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0331-7260","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bingfeng","family":"Ge","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Systems Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2422-1396","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yuming","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Systems Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China"},{"name":"Logistics University of People\u2019s Armed Police Force, Tianjin 300309, China"}]},{"given":"Zeqiang","family":"Hou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Systems Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China"}]},{"given":"Tianjiao","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Systems Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China"}]},{"given":"Wanying","family":"Wei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Systems Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1823","DOI":"10.1007\/s11269-014-0550-1","article-title":"Water diversion conflicts in China: A hierarchical perspective","volume":"28","author":"He","year":"2014","journal-title":"Water Resour. 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