Democratic peace

From dKosopedia

Category: MemeTank

The Democratic Peace refers to the now discredited belief that democracies do not wage wars against one another. Largely wishful thinking, the claim has been used by the second Bush administration as a post hoc rationalization for its illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq. A liberal democratic Iraq is supposed to democratize the rest of the Middle East by example.

Two historical cases disproving the claim include the Spanish-American War (both the U.S. and Spain were liberal democracies) and the membership of liberal democratic Finland in the Axis, which included the fascist powers, against the United Nations, which included the U.S., Canada, the Western European liberal democracies and the Soviet Union.

Two contemporary cases disproviong the claim are the wars that Israel is waging against Palestine and Lebanon. All three of these countries are liberal democracies.

Source

• Joanne Gowa. 1999. The Elusive Democratic Peace. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691070229.