Liberalism

Lecture 3

Liberalism: from international relations

to world politics

The Child of dtente and oil crises

The integration of the world economy
The devaluation of military power
New actors (NGOs, IGOs, MNCs)
New issues (trade, environment)
A cobweb model of IR.

Characteristics of Liberalism

Human nature is essentially good

Human nature is not the main cause of war
Progressive view of world politics
Co-operation
Peace
Justice

Classical Liberalism
International liberalism originates in
Eighteenth Century Enlightenment
John Locke: constitutional states; openmindedness (toleration)
Immanuel Kant: progress and perpetual peace
Adam Smith: free trade and the invisible
hand
Jeremy Bentham: international law and
mutual benefits

Liberals: War and Peace

War is the result of militaristic and undemocratic
elites pursuing their own interests (Rousseau,
Kant, Cobden, Schumpeter, Doyle)
War allows govts to raise taxes, expand
bureaucracy and increase control over citizens
a cancer that can only be removed by democratic
institutions and processes
Kants Perpetual Peace Democratic Peace
Theory

Immanuel Kant and Perpetual Peace

1795 Kant wrote Paper on Perpetual Peace
Believed that co-operation not only possible
between states but essential for peace
Civil constitution of the state significant for
international peace
Peace in world politics maintained by creation of
a pacific federation of states
International law creates universal norms and
values among peoples and states
Inspires the idea of the Democratic Peace

LIBERALS: The Power of Free trade

18/19C Liberals believed war often a result of
trade barriers
Thought that free trade was the answer:
David Ricardos Theory of Comparative Advantage
Reduce tension caused by trade barriers
Increased ties between peoples would increase
understanding and raise the cost of conflict
Interdependence replaces national competition

Norman Angell: The GREAT Illusion

(1910)
Angell often criticised for suggesting that war was
obsolete
BUT in fact his argument was that war could no
longer be profitable
Costs of war outweighed the benefits of conquest
WW1 and 2 seemed to justify Realist critique
BUT is war still seen as an extension of politics
by other means in our nuclear/globalized age?

LIBERALS: Peace and Justice

Liberals believe that the legitimacy of domestic orders
is dependent on rule of law and respect for individual
rights
Led to two kinds of development:
Attempts to develop international governance
Creation of Universal Human rights
Bentham argues in favour of international court to
resolve differences and arms control
Human rights have a two-fold role:
Provide a legal basis for freedom and justice
Normative effect on state behaviour

Wilsonian Internationalism
Creation of a new world order after World
War One reflected liberal ideas about peace
The League of Nations
Collective security international community
to punish offender states
Disputes to be adjudicated by League
National Self-determination end of empires
Economic liberalism

Globalisation
Globalisation was accelerated by the triumph
of economic liberalism in the 1980s
Reduced capacity of the State to regulate the
market
Increasing irrelevance of national borders
Development of new forms of international
governance WTO, EU, Washington
Consensus

Complex Interdependence
Challenge to the dominance of Realism in the
1960s and 1970s
Raised the importance of low politics and new
dimensions of international relations
Emergence of new transnational actors
Political and Economic co-operation between
states

A Critique Of Liberalism

Idealism
Utopian view of conflict and human nature
Too much faith in institutions and law
Neglect of power and national interest
Economic interdependence
Unevenness of the world economy
Failure of the League of Nations and UN
Hegemony of Great Powers
Cultural bias
Promotion of Western values

Concluding thoughts
Like realism, liberalism is part of a long
historical tradition of thinking about politics,
economics and international relations
Progressive (optimistic) view of human nature
allows Liberals to believe that IR can be
changed for the better
Two World Wars seemed to undermine liberal
thought
BUT is that the case?