ABSTRACT
Each superpower assisted its regional allies engaged in a struggle against the regional allies of the rival superpower. While the description fits many situations, it obscures another role frequently played by the superpowers— that of peacemaker and mediator, seeking to resolve or to moderate local conflicts. The superpowers’ involvement in peacemaking raises several questions, both about the past and the future. Why did the superpowers engage in mediation? In which conflicts and what kinds of circumstances did they mediate? A Grotian framework appears particularly well suited to explain the superpowers’ role in peacemaking because it places an emphasis on the quest for world order. The superpowers’ special role was accepted by the international community. A neo-Grotian approach, which assumes that the superpowers sought to protect an international order based on norms that they shared, would lead to an expectation of regular cooperation in peacemaking between them.
