LIBERALISMPacket: pages102-108

A Place for Liberalism in IR• Alternative to realism• UN -> Cold War Power Politics -> New World Order?

• Hoffman: “international affairs has been the nemisis of liberalism.” Why?

4-dimensional definition of Liberalism: individualism vs. community

1. All people are equal and have the same rights

2. Legislative assemblies are “by, for, and of” the people… and thus must not impinge on people’s rights

3. Ownership of property is a fundamentally important liberty/right of the people

4. The most effective method of economic exchange is based on market forces

Liberalism as an IR Theory• States are likened to people: • States have different

characteristics. “Identity determines outward orientation.”

• All states have natural rights.

• Other: non-intervention domestically; extension of ideas internationally – rule of law, purpose of centralized institutions

Liberals – cause of war• War: not due to anarchy

• War is caused by other factors: imperialism, failure of balance of power, undemocratic regimes

The Contradiction within Liberalism• Commitment to freedom in economic and social spheres leads to reduction of power in governing institutions.

• Commitment to a democratic political culture needed to protect basic freedoms requires strong gov’t and interventionist institutions

Kant – Perpetual Peace• Definitive articles on pg. 104

• States (like people) can use logic/reason to produce freedom and justice in IR

• Federal contract between states to abolish war

Democratic Peace Theory• States that are liberal democracies are less likely to war with each other

• Doyle: 2 elements to the Kantian ideal…

• Why is war unlikely b/tw liberal states?

• Alternative explanations?

Other Liberal Voices re: War• Bentham: int’l law can

prevent war; establish a common tribunal

• Cobden: free trade creates a more peaceful world via mutual gains• But this overlooks

asymmetric gains by hegemons

• History contradicts the above premises

WWI Lesson: “Constructing Peace”• Peace is not a natural condition, but must be built

• Wilson: 14 Points & League of Nations• A disaster

• System of Collective Security

The League and Self-determination• Moral and legal problems with self-det.:

1. Minorities with no feeling of allegiance to the newly created state

2. How democracy affects constituency and balloting

3. What if the new state rejects liberal democratic norms

On the League of Nations• “While the moral

rhetoric at the creation of the League of Nations was decidedly idealist, in practice states remained imprisoned by self-interest.”

• “The collapse of the L. of N. dealt a fatal blow to idealism” (106)

Integration Theory and Pluralism• Transnational cooperation is

needed to resolve common problems• Core concept: “ramification” –

cooperation in one area would lead to collaboration in others

• Not only focused on mutual gains from trade, but also how other transnational actors played a major role in IR now (pluralism)

• Huge focus on interdependence• State autonomy was being

replaced by interdependence• Criticism by K. Waltz

• Less interdep. than predicted

Neo-liberalism• Agreed w/ core assumptions

of neorealism• anarchic system, rational

approach states are most important

• Differ: anarchy does not imply the impossibility of durable patterns of cooperation• Int’l regimes must be created to

govern key issue areas• Cooperative agreements would

exist when benefits are evenly shared

Neo-liberalism vs. Democratic Peace Th’y

• N-Ls say: Scientific approach must be used to build the theory around idealism

• N-Ls see a naïve assumption of the DPT: that commerce breeds peace… “Free-trade provides incentives for cooperation, but does not guarantee it.” (107)