Abstract
Democratic Peace Theory has been one of the most hotly debated topics ever since the 1980s. From Kant to the present day, the meaning of Democratic Peace Theory has changed, while the theory nowadays claims in principle that democratic states wage war against each other less often owing to their institutions’ and citizens’ abilities to urge their governments to establish a peaceful foreign policy. At this point, the critical theory offers an alternative explanation for the behaviors of democratic countries. This study was designed as a theoretical discussion utilising the analysis of primary and secondary sources in the field, both in printed and electronic materials. Employing the viewpoint of the critical theory, this paper argues that Democratic Peace is the disguise of hegemonic relations and the product of the historical block. This study revealed that democracies are not pacifist actors in the international realm. As articulated by the critical approach, the study also puts forth that the concept of Democratic eace facilitates the expansionist ambitions of hegemonic powers in the international system by utilizing various humanitarian interventions and serves as a means to maintain imperialist peace. Empirical evidence from the military intervention in Libya further reinforces this argument. Thus, this study asserts the idea to be cautious against the propositions of the Democratic Peace Theory because any activities done in the name of spreading democracy may involve a hidden agenda and disrupt the internal stability of non-democratic countries.
Highlights
Theoretical discourse on democracy and peace is not new in the study of international relations
According to Small and Singer (1976) and Doyle (1983), the Democratic Peace Theory does not suggest that democratic states are not war prone as autocracies, but that they are as hostile as autocracies, if not more
Numerous studies about the liberal peace theory are available in the literature, there is an important gap about the discussion on the analysis of DTP within the framework of the Critical International Relations Theory (CIRT)
Summary
Theoretical discourse on democracy and peace is not new in the study of international relations. It can be argued that these critics fell short in explaining the different behaviors displayed by democratic states towards democracies and autocracies Both the Democratic Peace Theory and its critics, adopting a realist understanding, mostly overlooked the economic relations and ignored the unipolar “hegemonic structure”. Numerous studies about the liberal peace theory are available in the literature, there is an important gap about the discussion on the analysis of DTP within the framework of the Critical International Relations Theory (CIRT). The aim of this study was to evaluate the Democratic Peace Theory by adopting the perspective of the Critical Theory. In this regard, the analytical framework method was employed in the study. The final section employs the critical theory of international relations in analyzing the DPT, with the intent to elucidate the weaknesses of the Democratic Peace approach
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