The idea of a “peace dividend” is such common currency in contemporary political and economic parlance that it has the ring of common sense. In an intriguing work of historical sociology, Miguel Centeno proposes what might be called a “war dividend” that Latin American states never collected during the period crucial to his study, the nineteenth century. Many scholars have linked the rise of powerful central governments to states’ ability to create effective armies and extract resources from civilians to pay for warfare: the “bellicist” school of state formation. Centeno largely agrees with the suggestion that war making ultimately strengthened the appeal of nationalist sentiments and the capacities of public institutions in the North Atlantic. Common citizens also benefited through the expansion of the franchise and other individual and collective rights. Centeno cites William McNeill’s colorful claim (which echoed those of nineteenth-century positivists) that military service is “the ball and...
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