Kantian Peace in the Digital Era: Normative Foundations and Empirical Evidence

This paper revisits Kant’s theory of perpetual peace in the context of transformative technological developments and evaluates its empirical relevance in the digital age. Kantian peace theory emphasizes republican governance, economic interdependence, and international law as pillars of global stability. Today, digital connectivity, AI governance, and cybersecurity capacity reshape these dynamics, creating both opportunities for cooperation and new vulnerabilities. Building on Kant’s normative framework, we propose that technological interdependence can amplify peace by fostering transparency and economic ties, while weak governance of emerging technologies may undermine democratic norms and increase hybrid conflict risks. To test these propositions, we employ a panel dataset of approximately 150 countries spanning 2000–2019. Independent variables include internet penetration, ICT trade volume, Global Cybersecurity Index scores, and AI policy adoption, while dependent variables measure interstate conflict incidence (Correlates of War dataset) and democratic stability (Polity V and V-Dem indices). Control variables include GDP per capita, regime type, and regional dummies. Our empirical strategy combines logistic regression for conflict incidence with fixed-effects panel models for democratic stability. Interaction terms assess whether technological interdependence moderates the relationship between democracy and peace. Hypotheses 1. Higher digital connectivity and technological interdependence reduce interstate conflict. 2. Weak cybersecurity and absence of AI governance increase hybrid war likelihood. 3. Information disorder undermines democratic stability, weakening Kantian peace.  [Unfortunately, my conceptual Model (a figure) is not loading] We argue for a Kantian-inspired global governance framework that integrates ethical principles into technology regulation, emphasizing AI ethics, cybersecurity cooperation, and equitable innovation. By bridging political theory with empirical evidence, this study contributes to debates on cosmopolitanism, hybrid warfare, and the normative foundations of peace in an era of unprecedented technological change. Methodology This study uses a quantitative, theory-informed design to reassess Kantian peace theory under technological transformation. Data and Sample: The unit of analysis is country-year. The dataset covers about 150 countries from 2000–2019, based on availability across multiple sources. While the Correlates of War (COW) dataset includes nearly all recognized states, merging with technological indicators (ITU, OECD, UNCTAD) and governance measures (Freedom House, AI policy data) reduces the sample size. Key sources include ITU, OECD, UNCTAD, Freedom House, Polity V, V-Dem, and COW/MID. Variables: • Independent: Digital connectivity (internet penetration, broadband), technological interdependence (ICT trade, data flows), cybersecurity capacity (Global Cybersecurity Index, national strategy), AI governance (policy adoption, ethics frameworks), and information disorder (Freedom on the Net, social media penetration). • Dependent: Interstate conflict incidence (binary) and democratic stability (Polity V score). • Controls: GDP per capita, regime type, regional dummies. Analytical Strategy: Logistic regression for conflict incidence and fixed-effects panel models for democracy, with interaction terms to test moderation. Robustness checks include alternative measures and sensitivity analysis. Missing data is addressed through list-wise deletion and robustness checks.