Capitalism, Peace, and the Historical Movement of Ideas

Abstract

A logical and causal exploration of the growing acceptance of capitalism and peace, or war aversion, is part of what Robert Dahl has called “the historical movement of ideas.” Although war aversion and the acceptance of free-market capitalism have undergone parallel and substantially overlapping historical trajectories, support for capitalism does not on its own logically or necessarily imply war aversion or support for peace. Not only must capitalism be embraced as an economic system, but at least three other ideas must be accepted as well: prosperity and economic growth must be taken as a dominant goal; peace must be seen as a better motor than war for development, progress, and innovation; and trade, rather than conquest, must be held to be the best way to achieve the dominant goal. Moreover, the causal direction may well be misspecified: it is not that free-market capitalism and the economic development it spawns cause peace, but rather that peace causes—or facilitates—capitalism and its attendant economic development. This also may explain why peace is more closely associated with capitalism than with democracy.

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