Democratic Peace and International Security in 21st Century Kantian Political Theory Revisited

Abstract

Three decades into the twenty-first century seems to be a chaotic and desperate moment of international peace and security. Terrorists and rising regional hegemons with different visions of the new order have threatened the liberal international order, gradually established after the Cold War, with the global war on terror, China’s rise, and the war in Ukraine. More countries in the 21st century are becoming less receptive to democracy and democratic peace theory. In this paper, I question whether it is true that the liberal international order is declining. By tracing back to the origin of democratic peace theory in Immanuel Kant’s “Perpetual Peace” essay, I argue that democracy and democratic peace theory have developed their solid roots in global politics more than any other political theories have.