The imperial peace: Democracy, force and globalization

To date, the only account of the 'zone of peace' among states in the core o f the international system is that found in the democratic peace debates. W e rework the conceptual parameters through which the object of analysis - t he zone of peace - is defined in the democratic peace debates. Specifically , we historicize the concepts - 'democracy' and 'war' - that enable the ide ntification of zones of peace and war, and contextualize those histories in processes of globalization. This enables us to offer an alternative accoun t of the emergence of zones of peace and war in the international system an d of the central unit of analysis in the democratic peace debates, the sove reign and territorial liberal democratic state. This account conceives of t he international system as a whole and recognizes the mutually constitutive character of relations between the zones. It opens up a research agenda fo cused not on why democratic states do not war with one another but on the i nternational relations of democracy and war.