The Capitalist Peace: The Origins and Prospects of a Liberal Idea

The document examines the 'capitalist peace' thesis, which argues that capitalism—through free trade, investment, and property rights—reduces the likelihood of interstate conflict. It contrasts this with the 'democratic peace' and 'Kantian peace' frameworks, noting that while some scholars argue capitalism is the primary driver of peace, others see it as supplementary to democracy. The authors identify critical gaps in the current literature, specifically the lack of precise micro-foundations linking market attributes to peace and the difficulty in empirically distinguishing capitalist peace from commercial liberalism.

• The 'capitalist peace' thesis posits that capitalism makes states more oriented toward the status quo and less focused on traditional security, suggesting that elements such as free trade, foreign investment, and increased development are positively linked to peace.
• There are four primary arguments supporting the capitalist peace: a hedonistic view that capitalism transforms belligerent individuals into peace-loving consumers; a conditional view where peace depends on democracy or levels of development; an argument that the protection of property rights and contract intensity foster peace; and a signaling argument where capitalist economies better communicate their resolve during crises.
• Scholars disagree on the relative importance of capitalism versus democracy in maintaining peace. Some argue that the democratic peace is merely an 'epiphenomenon' of free markets, while others maintain that democracy remains a primary factor and capitalism is supplementary.
• The current body of capitalist peace literature suffers from a lack of precise micro-foundations that explain exactly how free markets lead to peace, and it often relies on the same game-theoretic arguments used to support the democratic peace.
• There is significant conceptual overlap between the capitalist peace thesis and 'commercial liberalism,' making it difficult to distinguish the two empirically, as the latter also encompasses various economic bonds between nations.

APA

SCHNEIDER, G., & GLEDITSCH, N. P. (n.d.). The Capitalist Peace: The Origins and Prospects of a Liberal Idea. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/2321fb3c-fc71-4cc7-8e96-8bd5f70b9807/The Capitalist Peace The Origins and Prospects of a Liberal Idea.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

SCHNEIDER, GERALD, and NILS PETTER GLEDITSCH. The Capitalist Peace: The Origins and Prospects of a Liberal Idea. Peace Research Institute Oslo, n.d. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/2321fb3c-fc71-4cc7-8e96-8bd5f70b9807/The Capitalist Peace The Origins and Prospects of a Liberal Idea.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=SCHNEIDER |first1=GERALD |last2=GLEDITSCH |first2=NILS PETTER |title=The Capitalist Peace: The Origins and Prospects of a Liberal Idea |publisher=Peace Research Institute Oslo |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/2321fb3c-fc71-4cc7-8e96-8bd5f70b9807/The Capitalist Peace The Origins and Prospects of a Liberal Idea.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{schneiderndcapitalist, author = {SCHNEIDER, GERALD and GLEDITSCH, NILS PETTER}, title = {{The Capitalist Peace: The Origins and Prospects of a Liberal Idea}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/2321fb3c-fc71-4cc7-8e96-8bd5f70b9807/The Capitalist Peace The Origins and Prospects of a Liberal Idea.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }