Explaining Zones of Peace

Democracies as Satisfied Powers

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4875237
AutoresArie M Kacowicz (0000-0002-7403-4751, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, autor de correspondencia)
Año1995
Volumen32
Número3
Páginas265-276
Fecha de publicación1995-08-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Peace Research (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0022-3433 • E-ISSN: 1460-3578
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0022343395032003002
OpenAlexW2026290069
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas46
Referencias citadas31

In the ongoing debate on explaining why democracies do not fight each other, an attempt to establish a correlation between democracies and territorial demands is made by posing the hypothesis that well-established democracies do not fight each other since they are conservative powers, usually satisfied with the territorial status quo within and across their borders. If this hypothesis is corroborated by the historical evidence, then it is possible to speculate that the zone of peace among democracies might be expanded if more countries (not necessarily democracies) also become satisfied with the status quo. To test the relevance of this proposition, the relationship between democracies and territorial demands is examined in historical and geographical terms, through the analysis of international subsystems or regions as the unit of analysis. A zone of peace is then defined as a discrete geographical region of the world in which a group of states have maintained peaceful relations among themselves for a period of at least thirty years. The historical and geographical zones of peace identified since 1815 are: (1) Europe, 1815-48; (2) Europe, 1871-1914; (3) Western Europe, since 1945; (4) North America, since 1917; (5) South America, 1883 to 1932 and since 1942; (6) West Africa, since 1957; (7) East Asia, since 1953; and (8) Australasia, since 1945

Democracy · Development economics · Economics · Geography · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Proposition · Relevance (law) · Sociology · Status quo · Territorial integrity · International Development and Aid · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Law · Political Conflict and Governance