ABSTRACT
During the last sixty years or so, specific core regions of the world have moved beyond situations of balance of power and absence of war. This was most notably the case for Western Europe, North America, and the North Atlantic area. Within these areas, reasonable expectations of peace and peaceful change have become the norm, while the use of violence in bilateral and regional relationships has become inconceivable. In most instances, the processes underpinning these changes began in the aftermath of the Second World War, taking shape earlier or later depending on the region in question. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, these areas can arguably be seen as zones of peace, and among them, some have even come to constitute zones of stable peace.
