ABSTRACT
The standard view of Immanuel Kant’s position on international relations is that he advocates a voluntary league of states and rejects the ideal of a world federation of states as dangerous, unrealistic, and conceptually incoherent. This chapter argues that the standard view of Kant’s position is mistaken and that he in fact holds a third position that combines the defence of a voluntary league with an argument for the ideal of a world federation with coercive powers. Central to Kant’s political theory is the view that the state of nature among individuals can be overcome only by their subjecting themselves to common public laws in a state. On the basis of interpretation, critics have complained that Kant neglects the possibility that states transfer only part of their sovereignty to the federal level of the state of states. The objection against Kant’s views on peace is that the league of states is unable to make any practical difference for promoting peace.
