In Power Kills: Democracy as a Method of Nonviolence, political scientist R.J. Rummel forcefully argues that democracies by nature are less warlike than non-democracies because they become adept at managing domestic conflict. Unfortunately, Rummel greatly overstates his case, ignoring numerous occasions when democracies have taken arms against each other and giving short shrift to “realist” strategic reasons for why they usually opt for peace.

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