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Proposes a strategy of global distributive justice which requires that the "major seven" countries of the OECD transfer one percent of their GDP to worse-off states; examines how this money could help improve health, using life expectancy as the measure. Includes the role of ideal theory and nonideal theory.

The article argues that Doyle's interpretation of Kant's first definitive article in Perpetual Peace is mistaken. I distinguish between Kant's pragmatic argument (his democratic peace proposition) & his a priori, or transcendental claim. Both are distinct from Doyle's approach which emphasizes institutional restraint & shared cultural norms. Doyle must be criticized for taking Kant's transcendental claims as statements that can be verified empirically. I propose that we drop Doyle's juxtaposition of liberal & illiberal as a fallacy of essentialism. Kant's distinction between republican & despotic is a methodological abstraction belonging to ideal theory (the system of rights). Kantian nonideal theory (his political philosophy) sees the distinction among states as a matter of degree rather than kind. Kant favors an inclusive global federation encompassing liberal as well as nonliberal states, rather than an exclusive federation & "separate peace" of liberal states. Adapted from the source document.

This paper discusses obligations of international distributive justice-specifically, obligations rich countries have to transfer resources to poor countries. It argues that the major seven OECD countries each have an obligation to transfer at least one percent of their GDP to developing countries.The strategy of the paper is to defend this position without having to resolve the many debates that attend questions of international distributive justice. In this respect, it belongs to the neglected category of nonideal theory. The key to the strategy is to show that a significant amount of good would be accomplished by a one percent transfer, despite the fact that one percent is quite a small amount.To make this showing, the paper takes health as a fundamental measure of individual well-being and examines the improvement in life expectancy that would likely result from devoting the one percent transfer to the major determinants of health. It adduces data indicating that substantial progress towards raising life expectancy in developing countries to the global average of 64.5 years can be expected from expenditures of $125 per capita, divided between health care, education, and basic nutrition and income support. A one percent transfer from the major seven is enough to cover expenditures on that scale for the poorest fifth of the world's population.