Democratic Peace Theory as Applied to Europe and the Middle East

History is littered with wars since time immemorial, but now the question being asked is whether this is really how events will play out in the future? The greatest periods of peace in ancient history can often be attributed to a large hegemonic power after a series of victories, but the past century has featured a new phenomenon bringing about peace and prosperity. The rise of liberal democracies around the world coincided with a significant reduction in the number of wars between them involving aggressive military action, and greater economic prosperity among them. For these reasons it is valuable to inquire whether or not such results will continue. This paper will analyze to what extent democratic peace can be cited as the driving mechanism of peace in Europe over the past century, and to compare the European model with current developments in the Middle East. With this comparison, it will attempt to make an informed prediction as to whether the recent democratic revolutions there can be expected to have a similar result. To determine whether or not democracy has an effect on peace, it is necessary to define war and peace. This paper will use the definition offered by Bruce Russett in Grasping the Democratic Peace for war, which is a “large