Perpetual Peace. From Utopia to Reality: There is no other way

Abstract

The article briefly traces the development of the idea of «perpetual peace», from its Renaissance roots till the present day. The article focuses on Immanuel Kant’s treatise «Towards Perpetual Peace» (Zum ewigen Frieden,1795). In it, the great Königsberger attempts to overcome the political and legal limitations of the peacekeeping thought of his predecessors. Kant comes to a conclusion which, by all standards, was paradoxical for the eighteenth century, and is extremely relevant for the twenty-first century: either perpetual peace will be achieved truly, or it will arrive in the graveyard of humanity. Catching the public attention in the twentieth century, this idea of Kant seemed more like a subject for philosophical reflection that needed to be tested for its worth. Has Kant’s treatise survived this sort of testing? We may get an answer to this question within the lifespan of a generation, or two. The author claims that Kant’s peacemaking legacy has changed from a seemingly hopeless utopia into a blueprint of urgent necessity. With a view to the current situation (the author of the article concludes), it is vital to reset Kantian peacekeeping wheels in motion. For there is no other option.