Abstract
This essay joins the discussion on the liberal peace by exploring the effects of inter-democratic institutions on democracy and peace. We begin by arguing that the international organization of cooperation among democracies makes a distinctive contribution to the absence of war between democracies. At the same time, democracies are particularly vulnerable to detrimental effects of inter-democratic cooperation. Most importantly, the integration of military forces may diminish democratic control of the executive's decision on the use of military force. However, the ‘democratic peace’ may transform into an ‘executive peace’ because the integration of military forces not only loosens institutional constraints at the national level but at the same time creates new ones at the international one. Taken together, inter-democratic institutions exert rather ambivalent effects on democracy and peace. Instead of subscribing to enlightenment's optimism that the spread of democracy and international organization amount to a virtuous circle, we plead for an appreciation and further exploration of inherent tensions between democracy, international institutions and peace.
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