What connects the Epidamnus/Corcyra and Potidaea disputes to the broader conflict in Thucydides' account?

Answer & explanation

Local conflicts engage competing alliance networks and the interests of larger powers.

Requests for help and overlapping obligations draw larger powers into local disputes. Choices made for protection can also be interpreted as threats by rivals. The episodes show a route to escalation rather than a law that all alliances cause war.