Has Two Democracies Ever went to war with each other ??.

a reply to: Spider879

Yes. Ancient Greek City-States warred with each other.

a reply to: Spider879

the war of 1812 [ USA vs canada // UK ] springs immediatly to mind

isreal vs lebanon - was that ever a declared war [ that sitisfies the op ] ????????????

isreal vs syria - did syria ever meet the OPs criteria for democracy ?

i CBA looking it up - but there were several wasrs involving brazil and almost every other south american counyty - brazils claims to democracy changed so frequently - that some reaserch would be needed to see if she ever qualified

cyprus ?????

a reply to: ignorant_ape

the war of 1812 [ USA vs canada // UK ] springs immediatly to mind

Yeah but we Can't count Canada then for they were essentially Brits.
Syria was some kinda strong man ship back then wasn't it?? like Saddam's Iraq but needs looking into.

originally posted by: Spider879
a reply to: ignorant_ape

the war of 1812 [ USA vs canada // UK ] springs immediatly to mind

Yeah but we Can't count Canada then for they were essentially Brits.
Syria was some kinda strong man ship back then wasn't it?? like Saddam's Iraq but needs looking into.

But us Brits were a democracy back then ruled by the parliment.

originally posted by: daaskapital

originally posted by: Spider879
I am asking from a historical perspective and when I say democracies I am talking about full blown democracies not that they have to be perfect, I've also heard that nations with American fast foods like Mc Donalds or Pizza Hut rarely come to blows I am scratching my head for modern history examples and the closest I came up with was Britain vs Argentina but abandoned that idea after remembering Argentina was ran back then by one Agusto Pinochet, any modern history buffs out there pls chime in.

That sounds similar to the Democratic Peace Theory:

I think it has some merit in that democracies are unlikely to go to war with one another. That said, while the basic assertion is more or less true, there have certainly been wars between democratic states.

Chr0naut's list is a good list of democratic states which have waged war with one another.

The 'Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention', as presented by Thomas L. Friedman, states that countries with sufficient economic development are able to sustain a middle class (exemplified with fast food outlets) and therefore will no longer be interested in going to war. In essence, it states that globalisation alters the economic development of countries and drives a force of inter-dependence which will result in less war. Thomas L. Friedman's assertions that countries with fast food outlets have never gone to war were refuted by other academics at the time of The Lexus and the Olive Tree's publication. I will let Wikipedia talk about it though:

Shortly after the book was published, NATO bombed Yugoslavia. On the first day of the bombing, McDonald's restaurants in Belgrade were demolished by angry protesters and were rebuilt only after the bombing ended. In the 2000 edition of the book, Friedman argued that this exception proved the rule: the war ended quickly, he argued, partly because the Serbian population did not want to lose their place in a global system "symbolised by McDonald's" (Friedman 2000: 252–253).

Critics have pointed to other conflicts as counterexamples, depending on what one considers "a war":

- The 1989 United States invasion of Panama

- In 1999, India and Pakistan fought a war over Kashmir, known as the Kargil War. Both countries had (and continue to have) McDonald's restaurants. Although the war was not fought in all possible theatres (such as the Rajasthan and Punjab borders), both countries mobilised their military all along their common borders and both countries made threats involving their nuclear capabilities.

- The 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon, following hostilities ongoing since 1973, with South Lebanon occupied until May 2000. (McDonald's franchises were established in Israel and Lebanon in 1993 and 1998, respectively.) However, the Lebanese Armed Forces were not a party to the fighting, the Israel Defense Forces action being taken instead against the paramilitary group Hezbollah.

- The 2008 South Ossetia war between Russia and Georgia. Both countries had McDonald's at the time (restaurants began in the two countries in 1990 and 1999, respectively).[1]

- The 2014 Crimean crisis between Russia and Ukraine. Both countries had McDonald's at the time.

en.wikipedia.org...

The link has a description of debates between Friedman and his critics if you are so inclined to read further.

In summary of the post, it can be asserted that there have been conflicts between democratic states, and between states which have fast food outlets. It is a rare occurrence however.

Thanks for the vid very enlightening and the fast food test is a bust as well.

a reply to: twitchy

To be fair "democracy" is the Western sense is elected representatives and universal suffrage. This is alongside transparent governance, justice, et al.

The "Greek democracy". There were many democracies, but these often had a limited suffrage e.g. only "citizens" and no women. While Greek democracy was a good start, it was imperfect.

I think the big advantage with Western democracies is that they tend to work together. This reduces the likelihood of conflict. Perhaps this is why the members of the Western democratic also happen to be the "developed" world. I wonder if any nation (China included) will ever truly become a developed nation without universal suffrage and the institution of Western democratic values. The EU is a good exemplar of this... All those ex-Soviet nations that have joined the EU have been forced to shed the shackles and corruption of the past.

The Falkland Islands...Argentina invaded and Great Britain defended and had an ugly affair several years ago. War I don't believe was ever declared but more than a few shots were fired.

originally posted by: DJMSN
The Falkland Islands (Argentinian) and Great Britain had an ugly affair several years ago. War I don't believe was ever declared but more than a few shots were fired.

A few shots?

Ships were sunk, Argintine lost most its airforce and hundreds dies in landings.

It the only time were two modern navys have fought in open conflict.

Anyway Argintina was a military Junta at the time so hardly counts as a democracy.

a reply to: crazyewok

I stand corrected...I remember it was a big affair just that war was not officially declared I don't believe. I did not not remember that Argentina was under military control at the time. My memory and history sucks

a reply to: SprocketUK

Pinochet was a puppet dictatorship organized by the CIA.
NOT really a democracy in truth.

originally posted by: DJMSN
a reply to: crazyewok

I stand corrected...I remember it was a big affair just that war was not officially declared I don't believe. I did not not remember that Argentina was under military control at the time. My memory and history sucks

It was the falklands war failure that lead to the Junta collasping and the currnet goverment system forming. Really the argies should be thanking us brits

1861 - USA vs CSA

Am surprised that one has yet to be mentioned.

originally posted by: BubbaJoe

1861 - USA vs CSA

Am surprised that one has yet to be mentioned.

Would a truly democratic " country " allow slavery ?

I would very much doubt it.

Does the American Revolution count? Sure we where a brand new democratic country. Britain was the country we came from.

I don't think Britain should be counted as a democracy much before 1885, perhaps even 1918.
Having an elected Parliament does not make a democracy, if only a few people are doing the electing.
We spent the nineteenth century evolving out of oligarchy into democracy, by way of extending the franchise.

originally posted by: chr0naut
a reply to: Spider879

Sure they have. Wikipedia - List of wars between democracies.

Amazing how many of those were the US vs someone else.

It's not that many, and only one was started by the US, the rest was the other country declaring war or attacking first.

I appreciate you guys for doing some very great foot work on this issue I am learning a lot and even reversing some of what I previously believed to be untrue..