"It's a major redeployment of troops, obviously in a defensive response to the explosion in Tirane, that can easily escalate into an invasion force."

Mr. Gorbachev has renounced the use of force, but Lithuanian leaders have complained that the pressure tactics employed in Vilnius could easily escalate.

With the courts as a first and last resort, a squabble easily escalates into a neighborhood battle.

For Google, the trouble on Orkut - which is still in beta, or test, form - could easily escalate.

In the tense atmosphere, small incidents could easily escalate.

Once the bachelors really started taking sides, this one-on-one could easily escalate into a near-riot.

A pogrom could easily escalate and turn into an uncontrollable revolt of the people.

Cultural differences can - as we have seen increasingly in recent times - escalate all too easily.

The situation following the arrest of the Opposition leader is quite volatile, and could easily escalate into a serious conflict.

If there were an army-versus-police confrontation in Montenegro, where nearly every adult male owns a gun, it could easily escalate into a dreadful civil war.