As each power vies for its national interests on the world
stage, how do its own citizens' democratic interests fare at home?
Alan Gilbert speaks to an issue at the heart of current
international-relations debate. He contends that, in spite of
neo-realists' assumptions, a vocal citizen democracy can and must
have a role in global politics. Further, he shows that all the
major versions of realism and neo-realism, if properly stated with
a view of the national interest as a common good, surprisingly lead
to democracy. His most striking example focuses on realist
criticisms of the Vietnam War.
Democratic internationalism, as Gilbert terms it, is really the
linking of citizens' interests across national boundaries to
overcome the antidemocratic actions of their own governments.
Realist misinterpretations have overlooked Thucydides' theme about
how a democracy corrupts itself through imperial expansion as well
as Karl Marx's observations about the positive effects of
democratic movements in one country on events in others. Gilbert
also explodes the democratic peace myth that democratic states do
not wage war on one another. He suggests instead policies to accord
with the interests of ordinary citizens whose shared bond is a
desire for peace.
Gilbert shows, through such successes as recent treaties on land
mines and policies to slow global warming that citizen movements
can have salutary effects. His theory of "deliberative democracy"
proposes institutional changes that would give the voice of
ordinary citizens a greater influence on the international actions
of their own government.
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