EB. There's a confusion of terminology here. There's a huge difference between plain old "democracy" and "liberal democracy". China today is democratic, it's just not the type of democracy we've become accustomed to after the enlightenment. When people today say "democracy" I'd say that they by default mean "liberal democracy" and the interpretation of the opposite is mostly down to a know-it-all trying to shine a bit isn't it?

A very important thing to bear in mind is that there to date have still not been any armed conflicts between two functioning liberal democracies.

USA wasn't a fully functioning liberal democracy until 1920 with every state allowing women to vote. No matter how often George Washington use the word "freedom" in 1776.

I am impressed by your Pearl Harbour knowledge.