Kant's journey to versailles

Abstract

Immanuel Kant's Perpetual Peace often appears in both pre‐ and post‐Cold War international relations theory as a symbol of the long historical and philosophical tradition of the idea of achieving peace through a world organisation. Trying to sketch the historical path of the proposal reveals the obstacles and gaps ignored in the notion of a seamless tradition. When Kant's proposal is considered in relation to his doctrine of practical reason, we see how far both the League of Nations and the United Nations are from the realisation of Kant's idea of a federation of republics. Though the history of international peace, anti‐slavery and women's rights organisations might provide exemplars of Kant's enlightened citizens, neither that history nor that concept is drawn on in debating international relations theory. Theorists most often invoke Kant only to serve their purpose, whedier that is to argue for the inclusion of ethics, or for a new realism, or to promote the doctrine of democratic peace. An inadequate philosophic and historical context limits the legacy of Kant's ‘cosmopolitan peace’ and shapes the selective historiography of ‘realism’ so that just as at Versailles, Perpetual Peace is a logo, not a legacy.