Territorial peace theory

The territorial peace theory finds that the stability of a country's borders has a large influence on the political climate of the country. Peace and stable borders foster a democratic and tolerant climate, while territorial conflicts with neighbor countries have far-reaching consequences for both individual-level attitudes, government policies, conflict escalation, arms races, and war.^[1]^[2]

In particular, the territorial peace theory seeks to explain why countries with stable borders are likely to develop democracy while countries with insecure borders tend to be autocratic.^[1]^[2]

The connection between peace and democracy has long been recognized, but theorists disagree about the direction of causality. The democratic peace theory posits that democracy causes peace, while the territorial peace theory makes the opposite claim that peace causes democracy.^[3]

Since the early 2000s, there has been increasing scientific support for the territorial peace theory and criticism of the democratic peace theory.^[2] The territorial peace theory is addressing several weaknesses of the democratic peace theory. In particular, the democratic peace theory is contradicted by the historical observation that countries generally become democratic only after they have established peace with their neighbor countries.

^ ^a ^b Gibler, Douglas M. (2012). The Territorial Peace: Borders, State Development, and International Conflict. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-01621-7.
^ ^a ^b ^c Hutchison, Marc L.; Starr, Daniel G. (2017). "The Territorial Peace: Theory, Evidence, and Implications". In Thompson, William R. (ed.). Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.285. ISBN 978-0-19-022863-7.
^ Gibler, Douglas M.; Miller, Steven V. (2021). "The Territorial Peace: Current and Future Research". In McLaughlin, Sara; Vasquez, John A. (eds.). What do we know about War? (3 ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 158–170.

[Gibler2012-1] Gibler, Douglas M. (2012). The Territorial Peace: Borders, State Development, and International Conflict. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-01621-7.

[HutchisonStarr2017-2] Hutchison, Marc L.; Starr, Daniel G. (2017). "The Territorial Peace: Theory, Evidence, and Implications". In Thompson, William R. (ed.). Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.285. ISBN 978-0-19-022863-7.

[GiblerMiller2021-3] Gibler, Douglas M.; Miller, Steven V. (2021). "The Territorial Peace: Current and Future Research". In McLaughlin, Sara; Vasquez, John A. (eds.). What do we know about War? (3 ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 158–170.

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