Liberal social reconstruction and the resolution of civil wars in Central America

The international community, in its efforts to overcome the security dilemm as that inhibit conflict resolution, need not always offer forceful securit y guarantees to combatants in civil wars. We argue that noncoercive, libera l international intervention can end civil wars. As suggested by a construc tivist perspective and the insights of the democratic peace, the promotion of liberal democracy can successfully resolve civil wars by transforming th e identities and institutions of the combatants. We develop this argument b y examining the resolution of civil wars in Central America during the 1990 s. Of the Central American cases, Nicaragua, the country subject to the str ongest security guarantees, has been the least stable of the three. El Salv ador and Guatemala, in contrast, have experienced more successful conflict resolution despite the lack of any forceful security guarantees by the inte rnational community. The termination of these civil wars can be best explai ned by the adherence of local actors to liberal democratic norms and instit utions in response to a variety of international pressures and opportunitie s.