The Saavedra Lamas Peace: How a Norm Complex Evolved and Crystallized to Eliminate War in the Americas.

This article examines the disappearance of interstate war in the Americas after the early 1930s, attributing this regional peace to the development and crystallization of a unique norm complex. This norm complex bundled the principles of territorial integrity and non-intervention with peaceful conflict resolution mechanisms, emerging through Latin American legal entrepreneurship after independence and culminating in the 1933 Saavedra Lamas Treaty. The study integrates the classic norm-cycle framework with a punctuated equilibrium model to explain how shocks and political alignment accelerated norm acceptance, leading to a significant decline in both the frequency and severity of wars and militarized interstate disputes in the region. Quantitative data and case studies, such as the Ecuador-Peru territorial dispute and U.S.-Cuba relations, illustrate how the norm complex constrained state behavior and collective enforcement mechanisms prevented escalation to war. The article concludes that this regional normative development, rather than democracy, global norms, trade, or U.S. hegemony alone, best explains the Americas' sustained peace and suggests the framework may be applicable to other regions and norm developments.