Militarist Peace in South America : Conditions for War and Peace

Despite rivalries, crises, and notoriously violent internal political processes, South American states have paradoxically avoided a major intraregional, interstate war since 1935. Martin examines why and how intraregional, interstate relations in South America remained relatively peaceful. This analysisis theoretically and empirically interesting because in this region, the conditions for war assumed by political realism were present, yet a major war did not erupt. Conversely, the conditions for interstate peace presupposed by international liberalism were absent, but intraregional peace prevailed for over sixty-five years. Martin derives several realist and liberal propositions on the causes of war and peace and tests them, utilizing evidence from the peace in South America, as well as developing and discussing the "Militarist Peace" hypothesis. Front Matter....Pages i-xv Introduction: Absence of War or Enduring Peace?....Pages 1-6 Peace in South America: Norm, Anomaly, or Historical Paradox?....Pages 7-24 Political Realism: Peace through Power?....Pages 25-47 Balance of Power, Empirical Findings, and Peace....Pages 49-77 U.S. Hegemony, Empirical Findings, and Peace....Pages 79-99 International Liberalism: Peace through Principles?....Pages 101-115 Democracy, Trade, Diplomacy, and Peace: Empirical Findings....Pages 117-148 The Military, External Peace, and Internal Violence....Pages 149-176 Summary and Conclusions: Power, Principles, or Militarist Peace?....Pages 177-182 Back Matter....Pages 183-255