This chapter combines several aspects of the militarist peace perspective with the strategic culture framework. The first explains the inception and evolution of the war-avoidance policy. The second elucidates its endurance and prolongation. It examines how, why, and to what extent the regional war-avoidance policy emerged, evolved, and endured in a context of changing circumstances frequently associated with the outbreak of major wars in the pre–Chaco War period. The chapter focuses on empirically relevant cases and interrogates the usefulness of the strategic culture notion and theory. South American states consolidated their independence from Spain and Portugal by the late 1820s. The Chaco War's political consequences are instructive to retrospectively establish the inception of a new mindset and modus operandi that set in among the region's militaries. Strategic culture may benefit by opening itself up to these other analytical nuances in the Global South and across multiple policy domains.
