I can’t say his 11-dimensional string theory is any less delusional than his politics. He’s just another crank celebrity, like Krugman.
What about Nazi Germany vs France, etc?
I was just thinking about the theory of Pax McDonaldus (my made-up term)… the observation that no two countries with a McDonald’s have yet gone to war. I’m pretty sure this is false. But to the extent that it is true I think that it is a reflection of the fact that peaceful enterprises tend to hedge their bets regarding political uncertainties. For example, the company I work for (very large corporation) maintains two independent design centers that alternate responsibility for designs every two years or so. One is located in Israel and one in the United States. I have no inside information but I suspect that the true reason for this duplication of design capacity is a form of insurance against political instability. Should the United States impose totalitarian measures that impact business affairs, more work can be shifted to the other location and vice-versa.
Anyway, even if these empirical claims were true (democratic/McDonald’s countries don’t go to war), they are based on very short-term observation in historical terms. I’m in the process of reading Martin Van Creveld’s The Rise and Decline of the State and the long-term continuity of powerful families, organizations and conflicts is stupendous. Certain important states of affairs in human culture and society persist not for decades, not for centuries, but millenia. Perhaps the most obvious would be the East/West division between Christian and Islamic powers. 1400 years of conflict. Still raging today.
But democracy is the “End of History”.
Clayton -
The reason behind this is simple. Let’s get a bunch of barbarians to raise their hands, and magically they will become peaceful. Or maybe there are other factors involved? Maybe people make up the political arrangement and not the other way around?
No two democracies have ever gone to war.
It’s called ‘combat operations’. 
I forgot about that. The U.S. has/had troops also in S Korea, Japan and other places outside Europe.