1. She has taken care that men can live in all regions of the world

–humans can invent the means to survive which
nature does not immediately give them

2. Through war she has driven them everywhere, even into the most inhospitable regions in order to populate them.

–cause: differences in language, religion, ways of life
–another cause: general aggressiveness of human beings
–the losing sides are forced into less desirable land

3. Through war she has constrained them to establish more or less legal arrangements

–treaties, international law and norms
–forcing them to learn modes of peace-making that are imperfect but will help them adapt in the future

4. Nature makes man war-like, and war makes for many inventions

–war is the engine of technological progress
–technological progress translates into economic progress
–economic progress means more trade

5. The most successful nations militarily are "republican" nations

–open governments that allow free expression
–technology is invented more rapidly
–more popular support leads to better armies

Some think that the nation must be full of "angels" for a republic to work...

Kant: not true

–it is the most "inclusively fit" form of government
–most able to handle internal discord
–rule of law controls conflict
–most able to handle internal threats

Republican government will eventually win through natural selection.

For the sake of peace and the chance to obtain prosperity "man, even though he is not morally good, is forced to be a good citizen."

"As hard as it may sound, the problem of organizing a nation is solvable even for a people comprised of devils (if only they possess understanding).

The problem can be stated in this way: "So order and organize a group of rational beings who require universal laws for their preservation–though each is secretly inclined to exempt himself from such laws–that, while their private attitudes conflict, these nonetheless so cancel one another, that these beings behave publicly just as if they had no evil attitudes."

Republican government naturally seeks peace because it is controlled by the people

–they will not fight for light reasons
–they will not fight with each other
–they will fight against oppressive (closed) regimes

6. The spirit of trade comes to dominate every people eventually

–trade cannot coexist with war

"financial power may be the most reliable in forcing nations to pursue the noble cause of peace (though not from moral motives); and wherever in the world war threatens to break out, they will try to head it off through mediation, just as if they were permanently leagued for this purpose."

So "nature guarantees perpetual peace by virtue of the mechanism of man's inclinations themselves..."

Kant calls for kings to allow philosophers like himself to freely discuss political ideas...

He criticizes Machiavellian realism of rulers, even though he knows that they will continue to be this way until self-interest tells them to change.

"The intrinsic character of moral evil is that its aims are self-contradictory and self-destructive, and it thus makes way for the (moral) principle of goodness, even if the progress in doing so is slow."

Kant hopes that kings will adopt the rational course and allow more freedom
–stop being obstacles
–allow more freedom within their nations
–stop being imperialistic in their foreign policy

At the end of history, our true moral nature will finally be allowed to flourish in an environment in which it is not constrained.

–most or all countries will be liberal, republican
–there will be “perpetual peace”

Quotes taken from Immanuel Kant, Perpetual Peace and Other Essays, Hackett Publishing Co., Indianapolis, Indiana, 1985.