Citation

Owsiak AP, Diehl PF, Goertz G. Confl. Manage. Peace Sci. 2017; 34(2): 176-193.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0738894216650420

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

How does border settlement--that is, the management of salient territorial conflict--affect the prospects for negative peace? Using recently released data on dyadic interstate relationships during the period 1946-2001, we build on territorial peace research to argue, predict, and find three connections between border settlement and negative peace. More specifically, border settlement: (a) increases the likelihood that a dyad is at negative peace; (b) raises the likelihood that dyads transition from rivalry to negative peace relationships; and (c) consolidates negative peace--by impeding transitions toward rivalry relationships. We confirm each of these findings with a commonly used measure of border settlement, as well as an alternative indicator of unsettled borders: civil wars. These findings cumulatively support our argument, demonstrate the importance of studying relationships outside the rivalry context, and suggest that border settlement plays a critical role in the emergence and consolidation of negative peace.

Language: en