Doyle - Liberalism and World Politics

The thing that struck me most about Doyle's dry analysis of liberal theory was how relevant it is today. Written in 1986, Doyle describes liberal states as peaceful, yet prone to make war paradoxically over peace. Since I was born in 86, I don't really know much about our presence as "freedom fighters' in Latin America, but from the context, it is basically interchangable with our tour in the Middle East. Liberal states have discovered peace in aggression, which is as terrifying. Liberalism tends to be affiliated with pacifism, as is the nature of inter-dependency and democracy, yet Doyle makes the claim that liberal states are prone to make war; a war of imperial peace, however, is paradoxical and pseudo-realist. Material and democratic states will cooperate to inhibit free trade and liberty, but only after a state has been converted to democracy and inflicted by globalization. Doyle's description of liberalism is all encompassing and complete. By utilizing the historical theories of Machiavelli and Kant, he proves the grounds of liberal theory to be constant but the details flexible to their environment.