Boundary Disputes in Latin America

摘要

Since the start of 2000, five Latin American boundary disputes between neighboring states have resulted in the use of force, and two others in its deployment. These incidents involved ten of the nineteen independent countries of South and Central America. In 1995, Ecuador and Peru went to war, resulting in more than a thousand deaths and injuries and significant economic loss. And yet, by international standards the Americas were comparatively free from interstate war during the twentieth century. Latin Americans for the most part do not fear aggression from their neighbors. They do not expect their countries to go to war with one another. The puzzle that this paper seeks to solve is how to explain the following unusual cluster of traits in the hemisphere: Territorial, boundary, and other disputes endure; Interstate conflict over boundaries is relatively frequent; Disputes sometimes escalate to military conflict because states recurrently employ low levels of force to shape aspects of bilateral relations; Such escalation rarely reaches full-scale war; and Interstate war is infrequent indeed. Solving this puzzle may help point the way toward more effective prevention and resolution of conflicts about borders and territory.