The Three Definitive Articles (Long-Term Foundations)
Once the immediate causes of war are contained, Kant advocated “three legal pillars” to be established for permanent peace to reign.
1. All states must be republics, because systems with the separation of powers, rule of law, and representation are organically less likely to wage war. After all leaders in a republic must get the consent of the citizens, who are unlikely to vote for a war where they themselves must do the fighting, pay the taxes, and suffer the losses.
2. There must be some form of a “federation of free states.” A “world government” is dangerous and likely to be abused, so nations must organize into a voluntary global federation that will settle disputes peacefully without infringing on individual national sovereignty.
3. World citizenship must be conditioned on “universal hospitality,” meaning that foreigners have a right not to be treated as enemies when arriving in another country, provided they act peacefully. This, Kant believed, would bind humanity into a single peaceful global community.
Kant did a great job describing all of the utopian measures that couldn’t possibly work, wouldn’t you agree? I was tempted to add snarky comments to each of those nine aspirations, but it’s like shooting metaphorical fish in a barrel. The past 230 years have thoroughly demonstrated why all of those conditions are impossible because, you know, humans.
And hasn’t that “federation of free states” worked out well?
Kant is famous for having almost no sense of humor, but this topic brought out one of his few bon mots. He said that “perpetual peace” sounded like a sign over a cemetery. That is a pretty thoughtful observation. The only varieties of human beings who can avoid conflict are dead ones.
Ethics Alarms 
I would say that he is wrong thinking that an end to war is a desirable goal. War has to be there as the ultimate action when a situation is intolerable. The Democratic Party seems to be wagged by the DSA currently. In my state’s latest runoff election (almost all Republicans), the news channels invited the head of the state Republican Party and the head of the state DSA to speak on the elections. The DSA head spoke for the Democratic Party.
The DSA is overtly Communist and in their latest convention, their delegates openly spoke about overthrowing the US.
Frances Gill (DSA Los Angeles): “We have a unique responsibility to act from the heart of empire, the belly of the beast. The most important thing that we can do is take that empire down from within.”
Amy Wilhelm (DSA Seattle): “Our role ultimately is to facilitate our own empire’s failure in ways that we can, ultimately to overthrow our own empire.”
Hazel Williams (DSA San Francisco): “U.S. imperialism is not a thing that can be reformed away. It has to be overthrown through revolutionary struggle.”
Sarah Anastasia Milner (DSA Portland): “… to build a mass movement that can use the leverage of workers to hit the kill switch on American imperialism here within the American empire.”
If the DSA takes over, war needs to be a valid option. Their platform is to abolish the Presidency and Supreme Court, to abolish police, abolish prisons, effectively open our borders and abolish citizenship, and confiscate all property for the state. That is all in their platform. What happened to insurrection being wrong? How can a DSA candidate take the oath of office? Why aren’t they disqualified? Why aren’t they all arrested? Oh, because all 677 District Court Judges need to agree before you can arrest them or charge them. Just like the President can’t issue executive orders because the courts can’t evaluate them in time and Presidents can’t revoke executive orders if a district court doesn’t like the reason for the revocation.
Jack: “Kant is famous for having almost no sense of humor.”
Au Contraire!
Have you ever read The Last Days of Immanuel Kant?
Here is a link: https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/gbpre19/de_quincey_kant.htm
Here is the important paragraph:
His style of conversation was popular in the highest degree, and unscholastic; so much so, that any stranger who should have studied his works, and been unacquainted with his person, would have found it difficult to believe, that in this delightful companion he saw the profound author of the Transcendental Philosophy.
The subjects of conversation at Kant’s table were drawn chiefly from natural philosophy, chemistry, meteorology, natural history, and above all, from politics. The news of the day, as reported in the public journals, was discussed with a peculiar vigilance of examination.
Here is an anecdote:
At the beginning of the last year of his life, he fell into a custom of taking, immediately after dinner, a cup of coffee, especially on those days when it happened that I was of his party. And such was the importance that he attached to his little pleasure that he would even make a memorandum beforehand, in the blank paper book that I had given him, that on the next day I was to dine with him, and consequently “that there was to be coffee.” Sometimes in the interest of conversation, the coffee was forgotten, but not for long. He would remember and with the querulousness of old age and infirm health would demand that coffee be brought “upon the spot.” Arrangements had always been made in advance, however; the coffee was ground, and the water was boiling: and in the very moment the word was given, the servant shot in like an arrow and plunged the coffee into the water. All that remained, therefore, was to give it time to boil up. But this trifling delay seemed unendurable to Kant. If it were said, “Dear Professor, the coffee will be brought up in a moment,” he would say, “Will be! There’s the rub, that it only will be.” Then he would quiet himself with a stoical air, and say, “Well, one can die after all; it is but dying; and in the next world, thank God, there is no drinking of coffee and consequently no waiting for it.”
When at length the servant’s steps were heard upon the stairs, he would turn round to us, and joyfully call out: “Land, land! my dear friends, I see land.”
I found it an enjoyable read.
-Jut