ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the dangers of the triumph of liberal democratic peace theory (LDPT). The problem with the success of LDPT is that it could lead to controversial wars and interventions against non-democratic states and “fuel a spirit of democratic crusade”. The chapter argues that LDPT creates a way of thinking that encourages aggressive interventionism and makes violence against non-democracies appear legitimate. It suggests that due to its core logic, the fundamental conceptual distinctions it rests on, and the account of reality it constructs, LDPT functions as a theory that legitimizes and naturalizes violence—a discourse of “cultural violence.” The chapter examines the main tenets of Doyle’s version of contemporary LDPT. It explores the elements in LDPT that make its misuse possible, and examines how LDPT functions as a discourse of cultural violence and makes forcible democratization and aggressive intervention appear to be inevitable and reasonable.
