Liberalism
Introduction
• Liberalism
– Historical alternative to realism
• Promotes peace in the international system through set
norms, procedures and institutions, and emphasizes the
importance of states, NGO’s, International Organizations,
and Multinational Corporations
– Domestication of International System, opposite of DMS
– Both a Political and Economic Theory
• For Dimensional definition
– All citizens are juridically equal and possess certain basic civil
rights and liberties = Judicial Equality
– Legislative assembly of a state possesses only the authority invest
by the people = Democracy
» American Democratic Party = Liberal Political Values
– Right to own property = Liberty
– Best economic exchange is free markets without bureaucratic =
Free Market
» American Republican Party = Liberal Economic Values
Historical Context
• Historical Influence
– Immanuel Kant – Perpetual Peace
• Democratic Peace Thesis
– Liberal Democracies are pacifist and seek peace, thus two LD
won’t go to war with each other
– People less like to seek war then a Prince
– Liberal democracies = Wealth = More to lose = peace
– John Locke
• Social Contract Theory = establish democracy = peace
– Jeremy Bentham
• Power of Law to solve conflict = Peace
– Francis Fukuyama – The End of History
• Liberal states more stable = peace
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• World War I
– Challenged the notion of a natural “Harmony of
Interests”
• Political and International interest not enough to deter
war
• Liberal Democracies v Monarchies
– Gave rise to Constructed Peace Theory
• Leonard Woolf
– Need for Consciously Devised Machinery
• Woodrow Wilson
– International Organization = Regulates International Anarchy =
Peace
» 14 Points Speech
• League of Nations
• Collective Security
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• WWII and Post-WWII
– League of Nations = Failure
– US and Russia outside system
– Hitler Ignores
– Peace gave rise to United Nations
– Veto Power ensures great powers will join
– Transnational cooperation need to solve common global
problems
– Collaboration between many various sectors of society began
making isolation difficult
– Transnational Actors
– Gaining importance in IR and a major source of stabilization of
the IR
– Challenged the domination of states through interdependence
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– Mature Anarchy of IS
• A cobweb of diverse actors linked through multiple
channels of interaction create stability and prevent
anarchy
Liberalism and Globalization
• Is globalization creating a liberal hegemony?
– Is this good or bad?
• US has imbedded liberal principles into the IS
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Demonstrates a transparent democratic system to other nations
Advocates a global free trade regime
Appears to be reluctant hegemon
Created and maintains important international institutions
» Very successful, allies more worried about abandonment of
principles then domination
» Once institutions are created, very difficult to undo
– War or global economic meltdown would be
needed to upset the current IR System
• Post-WWII system successful because of US Hegemony?
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• Liberalism has created Winners and Losers
• Richest 20% of world pop = 75% worlds wealth
• Poorest 20% of world pop = 1.5% worlds wealth
– Challenges to liberal economic view because of
inequality
• Hegemonic Power is obsessed with controlling
institutions, markets and resources
– 9/11 backlash to modern liberalism
– Bush foreign policy = liberal values = Neo-Conservative
Ideology
– Does liberalism encourage imperialism?
• Historically = Yes
• Modern = ?... Few liberals would advocate imperialism
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• Liberalism of Privilege v Radical Liberalism
• LP = globalization needs to be addressed by a
combination of strong democratic states in the core of
the IS, robust regimes, and open markets and
institutions
– RL = Alternative to LP
• The economic principles of LP comes into conflict with
the norms of democracy and human rights
– Especially apparent in the Developing world
» Western Privatization diminishes internal democracy
» Qualifying for western loans requires privatization and
limitation of social welfare
» Institutions slow to respond to crisis in DV
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– Democratic Deficit
• Power in the IS is dominated by 15 member states,
which five have the veto in the UN
– Most statist models are dominated by opulent minority = Elite
Theory
– RL argue is a result of RP
• RL promotes Cosmopolitan Model of Democracy
– Regional governments
– Human Rights
– Global Parliament
• Critics (RP) call this Utopian