Main ideas of Liberalism Flashcards
What developments from the latter half of the 20th century can not be explained by realism?
- decline in conflict
- rise in democracy
- the growth in world trade
- the growth in the number of intergovernmental organisations
Decline in conflict:
How much have the number of deaths in battle fallen?
1951 - 600,000
2006 - 10,000
Decline in conflict:
How did the nature of conflcit change?
from: inter-state conflict (war between states)
to: intra-state conflict or civil war
The rise in democracy:
By 2006, how much of all countries had become democracies?
1/2
The rise in democracy:
What does democratic peace theory teach us?
no 2 democracies have ever been to war with each other
The growth in world trade:
Show the growth in worldwide exports.
1960 - $629 million
2010 - $30 trillion
The growth in world trade:
What does the growth in world trade suggest?
states are becoming increasingly interdependent
The growth in world trade:
What are the implications of states possibly becoming increasingly independent?
- thought to reduce the potential for conflict between them
- states will not risk conflict if it jeopardises the sale of exports and supply of goods
The growth in number of intergovernmental organisations:
What did the post-war era witness? What are there examples are?
a burgeoning of international organisations
e.g. UN, EU, NATO, IMF, ICC
The growth in number of intergovernmental organisations:
What does this illustrate a desire of?
a desire on the part of states to co-operate rather than go to war with each other
POSSIBILITY OF HARMONY AND BALANCE
What realist assumption about unitary actors do liberals reject?
the assumptions that states are unitary actors
POSSIBILITY OF HARMONY AND BALANCE
What do liberals claim about states’ interests? What does this mean?
liberals claim that states’ interest reflect the plurality of interests in a state
possibility that states’ interest change according to which political groups the executive and legislature
POSSIBILITY OF HARMONY AND BALANCE
What is the international system characterised by?
cooperation
POSSIBILITY OF HARMONY AND BALANCE
What is the liberal view of war? What does this mean is possible in the international system?
States have a choice
Conflict is not inevitable
characterised by cooperation
POSSIBILITY OF HARMONY AND BALANCE
What evidence suggests the international system is characterised by cooperation?
many international institutions emerged in the post-war era
their express purpose of preventing WW3
COMPLEX INTERDEPENDENCE
What is the definition of complex interdependence?
where states and their fortunes are inextricably tied together economically, politically, militarily and culturally
COMPLEX INTERDEPENDENCE
Who coined the term? And when?
Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye
1970s
COMPLEX INTERDEPENDENCE
As complex connections and interdependencies increase, what decreases?
military force
it is still important
COMPLEX INTERDEPENDENCE
What does David Ricardo and the ‘Manchester’ liberals Richard Cobden and John Bright argue? And what evidence do they use?
that free trade promotes economic interdependence
- they rely on each other for goods
- promotes exchange of value and ideas
COMPLEX INTERDEPENDENCE
What does the ‘cobweb of interdependence’ demonstrate?
makes conflict unthinkable
COMPLEX INTERDEPENDENCE
What is complex interdependence characterised by?
- multiple channels of actions between societies (interstate, transgovernmental, transnational relations) states are no longer autonomous international actors
- growing predominance of economics (‘low politics’) over defence and foreign policy (‘high politics’)
- states increasingly prioritise trade over war, lading a decline in use of military force
COMPLEX INTERDEPENDENCE
What does the Kantian triangle show?
recipe for international peace
advocates a kind of complex interdependence between states
COMPLEX INTERDEPENDENCE
What is in the Kantian triangle?
- international organisations
- democracy
- economic interdependence
COMPLEX INTERDEPENDENCE
Where does the Kantian triangle come from?
Immanuel Kant’s essay ‘Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch’
LIKELIHOOD OF GLOBAL GOVERNANCE
What does the willingness of states to act cooperatively allow for?
development of global governance
creation of international institutions
LIKELIHOOD OF GLOBAL GOVERNANCE
If states aren’t necessarily the principal actors in the international system, who is?
Religious groups
Social movements
Business
LIKELIHOOD OF GLOBAL GOVERNANCE
Expand on the role of religious groups as a principal actor in the international system.
- Catholic Church was an influential force in Middle Ages politics
- some European rulers broke with the Church to gain greater control of domestic politics
LIKELIHOOD OF GLOBAL GOVERNANCE
Expand on the role of social movements as a principal actor in the international system.
- women’s movement and green movement had led to reforms of national laws and policies
- e.g. laws against sex discrimination and limiting global warming
LIKELIHOOD OF GLOBAL GOVERNANCE
Expand on the role of business as a principal actor in the international system.
- powerful lobbying group at national and international level
- promotion of its interests are behind many of the regulations initiated by Brussels
- states struggle to raise corporation tax from TNCs (which can claim they earned profits in lower tax jurisdictions)
- British EIC lead to development of British Empire
IMPACT AND GROWTH OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS
What do some liberals argue about the state in the international system? What evidence do they point to?
the state is in decline as an actor in the international system
pointing to the growth in number of IGOs, NGOs and TNCs
e.g. UN - leading role in combating climate change
Oxfam - influential voice in formulation of state international aid policy
IMPACT AND GROWTH OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS
Show the numbers of TNCs. How much do they account for of production and world trade?
1970 - 7000 TNCs
2013 - 63,000 TNCs
50%+ of production
70%+ of world trade
IMPACT AND GROWTH OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS
What is the major factor in the escalation of these non-state actors?
globalisation
IMPACT AND GROWTH OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS
How do liberals view the prospects of international co-operation via international organisations? Why?
optimistically
see more to be gained from working together
IMPACT AND GROWTH OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS
Why do they believe that there is more be gained from working together?
stems from belief that many problems in the world do not respect state borders
power is not a ‘zero-sum game’
