Liberalism Flashcards
Liberalism historical context
More recent than realism - can be dated to the enlightenment
* Representative government, free trade - key ideas of liberalism
* 18th and 19th century - British imperialism
* 1914 - the end of the first liberal international order
* 2nd liberal order - 1919 at the end of the First World War, Woodrow Wilson and the treaty of Versailles
* League of nations - core principles of classical liberalism in international politics.
The league of nations
- War as a crime = development of collective Security - to defend a principle (that a crime has been committed), we can use our reason and improve our society, war can happen due to a failure of reason, war can be criminalized
- Representative government = peace between democracies, classical liberals argue if you turn your country into a democracy
that you are less likely to go to war. - Free Trade = free trade across countries, open their markets, war will become much more costly
- The league has failed
Significance of Wilson’s ideas
- Representative Democracy - In 1919 democracies were rare, women still couldn’t vote - seems natural in todays comity, Putin in Crimea had a fake election and so he had to be prepared by abiding by liberal principles
Why did the league of nations fail?
Collective security = If 1 member state of the league gets attacked all members have an obligation to provide defence, 1930 -
Italy invade Ethiopia - the system of collective security did not operate
* Self-determination = what happens when different nations live in the same land
* Self-government = democracies are peaceful with each other and institutional logic
- Normative - If both places are democratic they share similar values, there is a common socialisation/understanding
- Institutions - Institutions of government make it a lot harder to go to war, have to convince parliament/congress
- How do you define war? - large scale inter-state war that involves at least 1000 casualties
- Free Trade - can lead to peace, war becomes more costly and less profitable, everyone doesn’t equally benefit form trade. All
seek industrialisation, well paid jobs
Post 1945 - the UN replaces the league
- Liberal principles incorporated into the UN system
- Collective Security
- self-determination
- Free trade - the IMF and the world bank - facilitate free trade by offering money to countries that struggle economically -
Embedded Liberalism - free trade is embedded. - Self-determination meant the end of colonialism
- A ‘liberal zone of peace’ - NATO zone of institutions and cooperation - prosperous liberal democracies trading with each other -
The EC (EU) - Through trade and institutions a ‘complex interdependence’ emerged
- The concept of complex interdependence can be contrasted with the realist concept of anarchy
- Anarchy (realism) = means no government above states, we live in a very dangerous world
- Complex interdependence
The neo-neo debate
- Debate between the neo-liberals and neo-realists - clashed over
- The result of institutions in cooperation
- Whether states seek relative or absolute gains
- Neo-Realists - see the world in terms of win or lose (zero sum) = we are all competing, world politics will always be a win loose
situation - Neo-Liberals - See the world in terms of win win (positive sum) = the liberal zone of peace, they don’t feel threatened, feel as
though they are all winning
BUT cooperate through
Cooperation - Build institutions - EU, NATO, the UN
- Both agree that anarchy exits (neo-liberal) it does not exist in every part of the world
- Every state is rational
- States are the main actors
The Cold War
- The US (liberalism) won the Cold War
- The east and the west were still divided
- Liberals - We should expand this liberal zone of peace - a superior ideology?
- Need to expand liberalism to the communist countries - NATO
- China joined WTO
Ended in disappointment - Trump, Ukraine war
- The expansion of free trade with china joining WTO meant that the transfer of jobs and threatening domestic employment
- The universalisation of liberal values - assume these values are shared by others
Liberal policies today
- Further institutionalise to raise cost on liberal powers
- China will not be facing just the US but a complex web of alliances, rules and institutions.
John Ikenberry - Milieu grand strategy - The US should
- Lead with rules not power
- Provide public goods
- Work with likeminded democracies
- Keep the system open and diverse
