IR 002: Lecture 9 Flashcards
What are the core assumptions of Liberalism?
-Human dignity is sacred
-negative freedoms (from arbitrary authority)
-positive freedoms (to promote capacity/ opportunity)
-Democratic participation/ representation
What is the liberalist opinion on war?
Wars are recurrent but their number and scale can be minimized
What is the liberalist opinion on human nature?
Human nature can improve (more peace/cooperation/moderation/tolerance)
Who are the main actors in liberalism?
-States
-NGOs
-Individuals
-MNCs
What is the rise of traditionalism?
Tendency of groups within countries to build cooperative associations with groups in other countries (without going through states and their bureaucracies)
What is cosmopolitanism?
Embracing each other as fellow global citizens instead of citizens of a given country
What does liberalism believe about cooperation?
Cooperation can make everyone happier at the same time
Who wrote on how to achieve “Perpetual Peace”?
Immanuel Kant
What does Perpetual Peace look like?
-No standing armies
-No imperial conquests
-No interference
-No espionage
-No incitement to treason
-No assassinations
How does Kants’ book “Perpetual Peace” say we can reach perpetual peace?
-Strengthen domestic Constitutions
-Create a federation of free states
-Develop universal hospitaility
What are the core principles of commercial liberalism?
-Open markets
-Free competition
-Private initiative
-Individual enrichment
What are the main ideas and intellectual roots of commercial liberalism?
-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
How does free trade advance peace on the macro level?
-Rising interdependence among nations
-Trade generates better and cheaper products, which generates prosperity for all nations
How does free trade advance peace on the individual level?
-Individual enrichment leads to happiness
-Pursuit of wealth leads to moral perfection
What are some historical milestones in commercial liberalism
-Britains economic liberalization (1846)
-President Wilson’s 14 points after WW1 (1919)
-Failure of trade (the great depression) led to WW2 (1929)
What are some critiques of commercial liberalism?
-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
Is trade free today?
No
What is democratic peace theory?
Democracies do not fight each other even though they fight non-democratic regimes
What are the fundamental features of democracies?
-Regular elections
-Separation of powers
-Good governance
-Freedom of religion
-Freedom of speech
-Freedom of the press
Why is there democratic peace?
-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
What is the goal of liberal democracies?
To democratize the rest of the world
What approaches do liberal democracies use to democratize the world?
Inspiration (passive)
Interventions (proactive)
What is inspiration?
Creating an inspiring model at home
What is intervention?
Using incentives and pressures to change other countries
