Yan frequently espouses the peaceful benefits of a cosmopolitanist international world order in his essay “How to Prevent Warfare and Establish the Foundation of World Unity.” He defines cosmopolitanism as “one world in which the interest of mankind is coherent and homogeneous.” (8) It is a political theory that promotes the formation of peaceful relations between states, be it based on economic, political or social grounds. In understanding cosmopolitanism within the context of international relations, the democratic peace theory provides an interesting complement to cosmopolitanism theories of cooperation and peace. The democratic peace theory is a tenet of liberal political theory that posits that democracy are highly unlikely to go to war with each other due to their shared values and the domestic consequences for war within a liberal society.
At the center of both the democratic peace theory and Yan’s cosmopolitanism is the idea of shared values preventing conflict between two or more nation-states. Yan, throughout his work, emphasises the need for shared values and interests that promote the betterment of mankind. Many of his beliefs as such are also reflected in the liberal political theory that the democratic peace theory stems from. By creating an international society that is reliant on cooperation and shared values and interests, the need for conflict should, as per both Yan and liberal IR scholars, be non-existent.
However, where this two political theories diverge is on the nature of who should dictate the creation of such shared values. While both are based in the creation and maintenance of democracy, Yan supports the creation of a ruling overseer that will create meritocratic democracy, rather than one based upon popular elections. Liberal political theory, while it does support the creation of international organizations, such as the United Nations, also heavily supports state’s rights to sovereignty and ability to shape their political future. There is an emphasis on the success of liberal democracy in maintaining more successful, peaceful states, but there is no hierarchy within the international order, unlike Yan’s theory. Whereas Yan’s political theories towards peacebuilding are built upon the creation of a tiered international system with the creation of shared values, the democratic peace theory, and by extension, liberalism, rely on the existing shared democratic values as a means of preventing conflict.
Owen, John M. (Autumn 1994). “Give Democratic Peace a Chance? How Liberalism Produces Democratic Peace”. International Security. 19 (2): 87–125.
Yan Xisan, How To Prevent Warfare and Establish the Foundation of World Peace, pamphlet, pp 1-41.