Since every force competes for its national interests on the world stage, how can the democratic interests of its citizens be realized at home? Alan Gilbert is speaking at the heart of the current international debate on relations. He asserts that despite the assumptions of the new realists, a democratic democratic state can and must play a role in world politics. Moreover, it has been shown that all major issues of realism and realism, if properly articulated with interest in the national interest as a common commodity, will suddenly lead to democracy. The most striking example focuses on realistic criticism of the Vietnam War.

International democracy, as Gilbert describes it, is in fact linking the interests of citizens across national borders to overcome anti-democratic acts of their governments. The factual explanations have overlooked Thucydides' question of how democracy corrupts itself through imperial expansion, as well as Karl Marx's observations on the positive effects of democratic movements in one country on events in other countries.

Gilbert also explodes the myth of democratic peace that democratic states do not wage war on each other. Instead, it proposes policies that are in line with the interests of ordinary citizens whose shared heritage is a desire for peace. Through successes such as the recent treaties on landmines and policies to slow global warming, Gilbert shows that citizen movements can have beneficial effects.

His theory of "deliberative democracy" proposes institutional changes that would give ordinary citizens more influence over the international actions of their government.