One of the many advantages that
democracy has over autocracy (i.e., dictatorship) is that the dispersion of political
power among elected representatives and even between branches of government
(i.e., checks and balances) reduces the impact that one personality can have on
diplomacy. Even in a republic in which power is concentrated in a president or
prime minister, one personality can matter. Given the foibles of human
psychology, the risks associated with a volatile personality “at the top” in a
nuclear age are significant. Kant’s advocacy of a world federation includes a caveat
that world peace would only be possible rather than probable. Given the probability
of anger and associated cognitive lapses in even an elected president or prime
minister, a world order premised on absolute national sovereignty is itself
risky; hence the value of a semi-sovereign world federation with enforcement authority.
The impromptu press conference between U.S. President Trump and Ukraine’s
President Zelensky on February 28, 2025 demonstrates the risks in countries
being in a Hobbesian state of nature (i.e., not checked by any authority above
them).
The full essay is at "On the Impact of Personalities on Diplomacy."
