IR 002: Lecture 9

Question 1

What are the core assumptions of Liberalism?

Answer 1

-Human dignity is sacred
-negative freedoms (from arbitrary authority)
-positive freedoms (to promote capacity/ opportunity)
-Democratic participation/ representation

Question 2

What is the liberalist opinion on war?

Answer 2

Wars are recurrent but their number and scale can be minimized

Question 3

What is the liberalist opinion on human nature?

Answer 3

Human nature can improve (more peace/cooperation/moderation/tolerance)

Question 4

Who are the main actors in liberalism?

Answer 4

-States
-NGOs
-Individuals
-MNCs

Question 5

What is the rise of traditionalism?

Answer 5

Tendency of groups within countries to build cooperative associations with groups in other countries (without going through states and their bureaucracies)

Question 6

What is cosmopolitanism?

Answer 6

Embracing each other as fellow global citizens instead of citizens of a given country

Question 7

What does liberalism believe about cooperation?

Answer 7

Cooperation can make everyone happier at the same time

Question 8

Who wrote on how to achieve “Perpetual Peace”?

Answer 8

Immanuel Kant

Question 9

What does Perpetual Peace look like?

Answer 9

-No standing armies
-No imperial conquests
-No interference
-No espionage
-No incitement to treason
-No assassinations

Question 10

How does Kants’ book “Perpetual Peace” say we can reach perpetual peace?

Answer 10

-Strengthen domestic Constitutions
-Create a federation of free states
-Develop universal hospitaility

Question 11

What are the core principles of commercial liberalism?

Answer 11

-Open markets
-Free competition
-Private initiative
-Individual enrichment

Question 12

What are the main ideas and intellectual roots of commercial liberalism?

Answer 12

-Commerce is the cure for the most destructive prejudices
-The hidden hand behind free markets reducing tensions
-International division of labor means everyone can gain from free trade

Question 13

How does free trade advance peace on the macro level?

Answer 13

-Rising interdependence among nations
-Trade generates better and cheaper products, which generates prosperity for all nations

Question 14

How does free trade advance peace on the individual level?

Answer 14

-Individual enrichment leads to happiness
-Pursuit of wealth leads to moral perfection

Question 15

What are some historical milestones in commercial liberalism

Answer 15

-Britains economic liberalization (1846)
-President Wilson’s 14 points after WW1 (1919)
-Failure of trade (the great depression) led to WW2 (1929)

Question 16

What are some critiques of commercial liberalism?

Answer 16

-Trade does not always prevent war
-Trade can lead to interstate war
-Trade can make aggression tempting
-Trade can exacerbate human flaws
-Trade does not always prevent socio-economic injustice

Question 17

Is trade free today?

Answer 17

No

Question 18

What is democratic peace theory?

Answer 18

Democracies do not fight each other even though they fight non-democratic regimes

Question 19

What are the fundamental features of democracies?

Answer 19

-Regular elections
-Separation of powers
-Good governance
-Freedom of religion
-Freedom of speech
-Freedom of the press

Question 20

Why is there democratic peace?

Answer 20

-Institutional constraint: constitutional/customary checks within a country that impede, slow or limit the capacity of a leader unilaterally to undertake some action; population knows it will bear the cost of war
-Normative constraints: Beliefs, values, and attitudes that inform and shape the behavior of a leader
-Democratic transparency

Question 21

What is the goal of liberal democracies?

Answer 21

To democratize the rest of the world

Question 22

What approaches do liberal democracies use to democratize the world?

Answer 22

Inspiration (passive)
Interventions (proactive)

Question 23

What is inspiration?

Answer 23

Creating an inspiring model at home

Question 24

What is intervention?

Answer 24

Using incentives and pressures to change other countries