Pan-Americanism as a Hemispheric Model for a Global Order? The Pan-American Peace Pact of 1914

Some in US President Woodrow Wilson’s administration saw an opening to seize several opportunities in 1914 to present the United States as a hemispheric unifier offering an alternative for war-torn Europe. Since an international convention or a negotiated solution in Europe seemed unlikely, the US tried to establish a peace agreement for the western hemisphere to universalise American international law and multilateralise the Monroe Doctrine in a way that would mutually recognise each American republic’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and demonstrate to Europe that a negotiated peace was possible. This article analyses the emergence of the idea of the Pan-American Peace Pact and its regional and global significance in view of the League of Nations that was later established.