Session 23: Perpetual Peace - A Fantasy

Perpetual Peace by Immanuel Kant lays down the principles for achieving a world where there is no war. The democratic peace theory draws heavily from this work of Immanuel Kant. The main idea being that democracies are less likely to go to war because the leaders of a democratic nation are responsible to the general public and ultimately need to go to them for votes to get elected. In such a case, the losses and causalities, resulting from such a conflict, are on the shoulders of the leaders.  

The first definitive article of “Perpetual Peace” by Immanuel Kant states that “the civil constitution of each state shall be republican.” The way a society is ruled can either by republican or despotic. And democracies are necessarily despotic. Then the question which arises is how it is possible to have such a republic. Is it merely an ideal situation- one which is good in theory but not applicable to the real world?

While perpetual peace may be attainable with the principles set forth by Immanuel Kant but what it requires is the adoption of all them by all the nations. The current affairs of the world present a picture which are in total opposition to such a thing. We live in a world where the global hegemon is actively involved in conflicts around the globe, where democracies although in peace themselves have multi-billion dollar arms industries that provide weapons the world over and  are a vital source of revenue for their economy. In such a scenario, the case for perpetual peace if not impossible, looks weak at best.