Liberalism - Lecture notes and quotes from the books suggested by the tutor PDF

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Lecture notes and quotes from the books suggested by the tutor...

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Liberalism Ordering the International: History, Change and Transformation

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1- Chapter 4: A liberal international order? Central problem of politics is to protect the individual’s freedom (civil and political liberties) A liberal international system makes it possible to achieve progress and changes/improvements in international affairs = democracy and freedom are goals of foreign policy. Liberalism makes international relations be more peaceful and based on co-operation The communist countries were the only different political system, with the ending of the Cold War the liberal capitalist system became the only order, with a few exceptions, such as Cuba and North Korea. Origins: John Locke - “life, liberty and property”- Locke was a big defender of individual’s rights, which is the basis of liberal theory It focuses on the relationship between states and individuals, limiting their power and functions. Moravcsik defined three assumptions of liberalism: 1- Individuals and private groups are the fundamental actors of international relations 2- The state represents the dominants groups and 3- States preferences are interdependent. Some liberal approaches, according to Moaravcsik, have a “bottom-up” view of politics. Commercial Liberalism freer international economy promotes peaceful relationship between states and increases national welfare. Prove: Cordell Hull ( USA Secretary of State) adopted liberal measures which helped American welfare during the Great Depression Republican Liberalism  belief in constitutional democracy and liberty ‘Perpetual Peace’- Kant’s concept – originated the idea of ‘democratic peace thesis’ If a system is universalized harmony and peace can be achieved. President Clinton invocated others to help him to ‘enlarge the circle of countries living under free institutions’ constant action of expanding the scope of liberal international order The failure of promoting a liberal order by the US led to an era of economic stagnation and conflicts which ended with the conclusion of WWII, since liberalism became preponderant in the Western countries Liberal documents and organizations: “Wilson’s 14 points”, “League of Nations”, UN ( the “Atlantic Charter”) , IMF, NATO, the World Bank,… 1- League of Nation, Wilson’s 14 points, UN: promote peace and co-operation between nations 2- NATO: collective defence regime outlined by the North Atlantic Treaty. Promote global and regional security 3- IMF, World Bank: offer economic help to nations which cannot stabilize their situation by themselves. Liberal states share harmony of interests The co-operation created by these interests substitutes the balance of power Co-operation leads states to give up some of their sovereignty to supra-national institutions

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Liberal states co-operation exists in a balance of power with non-liberal nations and when and if all the states became liberal then the international system might be transformed. Daniel Deudney and John Ikenberry= relations between developing capitalist countries are based in three principles: 1- Penetrated Hegemony: USA political and economic dominant power which influence other nations, generating a strong consensus between liberal power, building a robust relationship between leading powers and secondary powers. 2- Semi-sovereignty: the national sovereignty is controlled by international organizations or co-alliances. Example: WWII Japan and Germany 3- Co-binding: “is a practice that aims to tie potential threatening states down into predictable and restrained patterns of behaviour…that is, they attempt to tie one another down by locking each other into institutions that mutually constrain one another”(1999, pp. 182, 183)

2- Chapter 14: Characterizing international order. It’s influenced by Kant’s concept of perpetual peace According to Moravcsik some liberal approaches share realist’s the main features and principles Moravcsik re-state liberalism by approaching a wider area The state role, relations and actions are shaped from bottom up States preferences are determined by the nature of social interests represented by them The anarchical state of international order is due to the interdependence between states wills ‘Configuration of state preferences’ Moravcsik’s term to explain “the mix of things that different states are pursuing” (p.497) which affects and determined the international order, which determined states behaviour: “each state seeks to realize its distinctive preferences under varying conditions imposed by the preferences of other states” (Moravcsik, 1997, p.520) Three categories of interdependence in states preferences that allow us to characterize international order: 1- The differences and coincidences of wills ar e not significant to other nations 2- Preferences will impose costs on other states 3- A mixture of the two and negotiation results in states exchanging policies concessions due to achieve other aims

It makes possible to identify what the conflicts and cooperation between nations are about.

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States behaviour varies depending on the international constrains under which it pursues its preferences....