Perpetual peace

Perpetual peace refers to a state of affairs where peace is permanently established over a certain area.

The idea of perpetual peace first came up during the 18th century, when Charles-Irénée Castel de Saint-Pierre published his essay "Project for Perpetual Peace" anonymously while working as the negotiator for the Treaty of Utrecht. However, the idea did not become well known until the late 18th century. The term perpetual peace became acknowledged when German philosopher Immanuel Kant published his 1795 essay "Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch".

Perpetual peace has had significant influence upon modern politics. Perpetual peace has been the foundation for peace and conflict studies, a relatively newly laid field which started in Europe around the 1950s and 1960s.

The other modern plans for a perpetual peace descend from Kant's 1795 essay, "Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch" (""). In this essay, Kant described his proposed peace program. Perpetual peace is arguably seen as the starting point of contemporary liberal thought.

"Perpetual Peace" is structured in two parts. The Preliminary Articles described the steps that should be taken immediately, or with all deliberate speed:

Three Definitive Articles would provide not merely a cessation of hostilities, but a foundation on which to build a peace:

Kant's essay in some ways resembles modern democratic peace theory, though it also differs significantly from it. He speaks of republican (Republikanisch) states (rather than of democratic ones), which he defines to have representative governments, in which the legislature is separated from the executive. He does not discuss universal suffrage, which is vital to modern democracy and quite important to some modern theorists; his commentators dispute whether it is implied by his language. Most importantly, he does not regard republican governments as sufficient by themselves to produce peace: freedom of travel, though not necessarily migration, (hospitality); and a league of nations are necessary to consciously enact his six-point program.

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