To Perpetual Peace

What is the standing of a sovereign nation and what are its rights relative to other sovereign nations? What is our obligation to pursue peace? Can intervention in the affairs of another sovereign nation be justified? Who, if any one, has the right to intervene? In this short essay, Kant completes his political theory and philosophy of history, considering the prospects for peace among nations and addressing questions that remain central to our thoughts about nationalism, war, and peace. Ted Humphrey provides an eminently readable translation, along with a brief introduction that sketches Kant's argument.