Democracy and War

In noting the fact that the French Revolutionaries, possessed of a “popular” government, quickly went on the offensive to “spread their values,” Thomas DiLorenzo makes a very good point. One made by one of the essayists in Democracy, Liberalism, and War: Rethinking the Democratic Peace Debate (edited by Tarak, Barkawi and Leffey). (I do not remember which author; it has been a while since I’ve read the book; it was an academic snoozer and I don’t recall getting much farther than the third or forth essay.) Democracies may not wage war on each other, but they wage a lot of offensive wars on “non-democracies.” It’s an interesting point, and suggests that “democratic” societies have problems tolerating and accepting non-democratic societies. And not the other way around.

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1:18 pm on January 12, 2005

Democracy and War

Ex-communist Ronald Radosh attacks the Old Right advocates of peace and freedom — and not, need I add, with total accuracy — for yet another neocon Beltway groupthinktank. (Courtesy of Joseph Stromberg.)

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10:38 am on July 1, 2003