Customer Reviews

Militarist Peace in South America: Conditions for War and Peace

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you want to understand why interstate relations in South America have remained one of the most peaceful in the globe in the last 70 years, I think this is the right book for you.

In Militarist Peace in South America, Félix Martín seeks to explain how peace can be explained in a region whose realist conditions for war are present and the liberal conditions for peace are absent. After proceeding through a meticulous test of both the realist and the liberal hypotheses to the causes of war and peace, Martín concludes that the South American peace, which has impressively lasted for over seventy years,has been maintained mainly through the transnational dimension of the military institution in South America. Instead of being the protectors of the states from external threats, the militaries of the South American nations have become the guardians of the state from internal political foes. This, Martín asserts, is the main reason for the long South American peace.

What is relevant to note here is that Martín found only a small causal relationship between the most relevant realist propositions and the prevalence of peace in that region of the globe. He tested dyadic deterrence, balance of power, and hegemonic stability theories, but only the first one provided explanation - and a partial one - to the absence of conflict in South America. In four out of the eight cases studied the defender, given a clear superior material capability, has deterred the challenger. The Argentine-Brazilian and the Bolivian-Chilean dyads are the most compelling examples. As for the balance of power theory, Martín argues that it can not offer an adequate explanation to the stability of the South American continent. This is because both the periods of conflict and those of peace coincided with a bipolar configuration of the sub-system, and thus bipolarity can not explain the permanence of peace.

Finally, the peacekeeping and peacemaking impact of the U.S. on the South American peace is too tenuous to provide an explanation to the prevention of wars in South America.

A great scholarly achievement. I totally recommend!