Oligarchs, not ‘the people’, decide to declare war

 

In a recent article, Michael Ignatieff wrote: “When the people get to decide whether to go to war, they rarely do so willingly. This was why Immanuel Kant said the spread of democracy was the best guarantee of world peace”. 

But poll results show that large majorities in democratic societies oppose the use of drones and oppose drone warfare

David Tuckwell in London pointed out in his reply that Prof Ignatieff’s defence of democracies using drones is out of kilter with poll results. Poll results show that large pluralities of democratic societies oppose the use of drones and oppose drone warfare. In a functioning democracy, there should be a meaningful relationship between public opinion and public policy. 

Dr Boris Danik, a Ukrainian-American goes further. He asks: 

“When was the last time people were asked to make such a decision?” 

He continues: 

“The answer is that they are never asked. Not even the Congress of the US has been asked to declare war, in my memory. Not for war in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan. 

Such matters are decided by oligarchs (rich businessman with great political influence) behind closed doors. 

He quotes Ignatieff again: “Democracies may not like fighting each other – which is why war has become unthinkable between EU and Nato countries … ”. And disagrees, concluding: 

“A much stronger reason for not fighting each other is that these countries are basically part of the same geopolitical alliance, or US hegemony if you will, at least until now.”