| The democratic peace proposition (well-established democracies do not war against each other) has been studied intensely over two decades. A comprehensive review of the literature finds the proposition extraordinarily robust over time and throughout the world. Tests, challenges, analysis, and theoretical explanations of an extensive body of evidence have been reported in over two hundred articles, papers, monographs, and books. Confidence in the validity of the proposition is strongly warranted: the democratic peace is both powerful theory and a reality of international relations.; A persuasive implication of the proposition is that promoting democracy should be central in foreign policy, in order to achieve a more democratic and therefore more peaceful world. The democratic peace is fundamentally about national security.; Has the proposition been used in American foreign policy? Evidence from the Clinton administration hints that the democratic peace assumed an important role: the President and senior advisers said that “democracies don't fight each other,” and “promoting democracy” became one of three pillars of American national security strategy. Closer examination, however, shows that while “democracy” was mentioned frequently, the goal of promoting democracy was more rhetorical than practical, and that promoting democracy was rarely been connected with the democratic peace. The administration's eight years were marked by countless missed opportunities to make use of the democratic peace proposition in motivating, explaining, and constructing international relations. The democratic peace has not been an organizing principle of American foreign policy. It has likewise been absent from international use, although the recent establishment of the Community of Democracies, and the Democracy Caucus in the United Nations, point to the beginnings of Kant's “pacific union.”; Making use of the democratic peace proposition in practical foreign policy will require much work, from creating the vision of an all-democratic-therefore-peaceful world, to formulating a grand strategy from that vision, making the strategy operational through campaign plans, and doing the day-to-day tactics of promoting democracy in order to achieve a democratic peace. This dissertation outlines how this work might be done, and argues that such work should be done in order to establish a worldwide pax democratica. |
