The Neorealist Theory Of The Cenepa War

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Introduction In 1995, a war started between Peru and Ecuador, over the border demarcation of posts along the headwaters of the Cenepa River. Cenepa is an Amazonian jungle region that is the heart of a bigger area called Cordillera del Condor located on the border between Ecuador and Peru. The war was the third armed conflict between Ecuador and Peru and represented more than 150 years of conflictual border dispute over the same area. The dispute started in Colonial times and remained unsolved until 1998. The aim of this research design is to deduce the outbreak of the conflict with three theories to understand war, such as: human nature theory, democratic peace theory, and neorealism. After that, I will describe why neorealist theory is the more suitable theory for my case study selection. Theories To begin with, the main question is what caused the Cenepa War? In order to explain the question, I will start with Human Nature theory. This theory points out an interest in the individual, specifically in the behavior of man. In that order, if human nature can’t be changed, then the occurrence of war can’t be reduce by trying to change it. Supposedly, social and political institutions may have the chance to change the occurrence or at least decrease the chances of war. Instead, if human nature can be changed, and can be done with the interactions with social and political institutions, those institutions should be in main focus. This entails to the conclusion that human

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