Theories of Interstate Peace
- Paul F. DiehlPaul F. DiehlSchool of Economic, Political, and Policy Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas
- and Gary GoertzGary GoertzKroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
Summary
Few theoretical formulations are specifically devoted to accounting for peace, as opposed to war. Nevertheless, the occurrence of peace requires a different explanation than that for war. There are multiple conceptual definitions of peace, and to a significant extent these lead to different theoretical explanations. Peace, except for its “negative peace” variant, fits poorly into various “grand” international relations theories such as realism, liberalism, and constructivism. Nevertheless, there is a relatively small, but emerging, middle-level set of theoretical works that directly addresses the transformation of hostile relations to peaceful ones, in both negative and positive varieties.
