INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

Theories in IR:
Liberalism

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

2020-1

LECTURER: AGNIESZKA EWA OLTER

Theory in action - Liberalism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZbDMUaqwE8
Liberalism
• Focuses on creating a fair and peaceful international order.

• After WW2 as well as after the end of the Cold War, liberal sentiments appeared to
be on the rise in international politics.

• Subsequent developments did in each case bring realism back in vogue.

The End of the History?
"What we may be witnessing is not just the end of the Cold War, or the passing of a
particular period of post-war history, but the end of history as such … That is, the end
point of mankind's ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal
democracy as the final form of human government.”
Francis Fukuyama (1992)

Francis Fukuyama:
• American political scientist and political economist.
• "The End of History and the Last Man (1992)": the worldwide spread of liberal
democracies and free market capitalism of the West and its lifestyle may signal the end
point of humanity's sociocultural evolution and become the final form of human government.
Liberalism
• Classical liberalism has its origin in the Enlightenment and in theories of thinkers such as
Adam Smith, Emmanuel Kant or John Locke.

• In this theory, rationality and freedom are inherent in human nature. And despite the
fact that the individual always seeks his own interests, through the correct regulation of
institutions, cooperation is possible.
Classical Liberalism
John Locke (1632–1704, UK):
• Lived during the Glorious Revolution of 1688.
• Government is based on a social contract between rulers and their subjects. Subjects
have the right and duty to rebel against rulers when the latter violate their rights.
• All humans have natural rights to life, liberty, and property.
• Political order must be based on a ruler’s respect for the rights of his or her people
rather than being something that a ruler imposes unilaterally.
• Political justice is a precondition for any form of lasting political order.
• Popularized the idea of natural rights – today referred to as human rights (one of the
main interests of modern IR).
Fundaments of Liberalism
1)Equal rights
All citizens are equal and possess certain basic rights.

2) The government as a representation of the

interests of people
Governing bodies possesses only the authority that the
people gave it—and their rights must not be abused.

3) The right to property

The individual has the right to own property including
productive forces.

4) Free Market
The free market is the most effective system of economic
exchange.
 Liberalism and International Relations

• The first thinkers in IR were called Idealists.

• Liberalism rejects the realist notion that war is a natural condition of
world politics.
• Possibility for cooperation between states that are looking for peace.
Peace has to be constructed.
• Democracy is necessary for human beings to develop and thrive.
• The priority should be to maximize individual freedom, while
restricting the use of force and coercion.
• Belief in human progress.
• Encompasses the social/political/economic aspects (tolerance, open
discussion; minimal intervention of governments; free market).
• Common legal frameworks, and increased commerce might remedy
the problem of international conflict.
Liberalism and International Relations
• The state is important but is not the only actor in the world
political stage.

• MNCs, transnational actors such as international

organizations or terrorist groups are central actors in some
issue-areas of world politics.

• Interdependence (international actors rely on each other for the

provision of essential goods or services) between states is a
critically important feature of world politics.

• State is a set of bureaucracies, each with its own interests à no

such thing as national interests exist.

• The order in world politics emerges from the interactions between

many layers of governing arrangements, comprising laws,
agreed norms, international regimes, institutional rules (not
from the balance of power).
 International Regimes
• International Regime is a set of implicit or explicit principles, norms, rules, and decision-
making procedures around which actors' expectations converge.
• International remiges are the most important sources of order in the international society.
• ¨The conceptual appeal of the idea of governance without government—in which a combination of
different organizations and institutions supply governance to address specific problems.¨ (Analyzing
International Environmental Regimes, MIT)
• International Regimes concern issues like security, economic and social development,
ecological crises, or violations of copyright law, among others.
• Those are supported by international institutions.

The Global Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime The International Regime for Environmental Protection
Liberalism and International Relations
Democratic peace theory:
• Liberal democratic states do not tend to go to war with
other liberal democracies (shared ideology and value
system). Spreading the values of liberal democracy leads to
promoting peace.
• Disputes should be solved by diplomatic negotiations.
• Emmanuel Kant in his book ¨Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical
Sketch¨, stated that the search for justice would
ultimately lead to the achievement of peace.

Current dilemma: Can peace be pursued by military

action?
• The U.S. War on Terrorism (War on Terror):
War in Iraq (2003 – present): invasion in order to end with the
government of Saddam Hussein, as it was believed that he was
developing weapons of mass destruction.
Neo-liberalism
Focuses on:
• Promotion of democracy, through free market and free trade.
• Laissez faire economics (system in which transactions between private parties are free
from government intervention such as regulation, privileges, tariffs and subsidies).
• Institutions as mediators that help to achieve cooperation in the international system.

Promotes market-oriented reform policies such as:

• eliminating price controls,
• deregulating capital markets,
• lowering trade barriers,
• reducing state spending,
• ending protectionism,
• reducing state influence in the economy, especially through privatization of state-owned
industries.
Cooperation versus World Government
An important division within Liberalism, concerning
the organization of the world:

1. Cooperation:
• Places a priority on tolerance and non-
intervention with simultaneous need for
authoritative international and global
institutions that modify significantly the powers
traditionally attributed to the sovereign state.

2. The World Government:

• Refers to the idea of all humankind united under
one common political authority, e.g. world
federalism.
The World Government
Proponents:
The World Government might
be a definitive solution to
the universal human
problems such as war and
the development of weapons
of mass destruction, global
poverty and inequality, and
environmental degradation.
Critics:
1. Realist argument: ideas of world government is utopian
thinking, given the egoistic human nature, and the claim
of sovereign countries to the supreme authority.
2. Homogeneity argument: the institution of the world
government would destroy the rich social pluralism and
ideological variety of the world, that animates human life
and progress.
3. Weakness argument: the remoteness of a global
political authority would dilute the laws, making them
ineffectual and meaningless.
In your opinion would a World Government make
the world a more peaceful and stable place?
 Criticism of Liberalism
• Liberalism is now in question.

• Crises in the multilateral system designed to provide

governance over security, trade, and finance have
demonstrated that cooperation is harder to achieve and
sustain than liberalists had assumed.

• The notion of global institutions that actually rule the

world appears a distant prospect.

• UN is not a global government. It must respect states’

sovereignty. It operates internationally, rather than
domestically. UN cannot interfere in the domestic politics
of the member states and has limited ability to enforce its
decisions.
End of Liberalism?
“Liberalism has become obsolete".
Russian President Vladimir Putin (the Financial Times)

Putin claims that the vast majority of people in the world oppose multiculturalism,
immigration, and rights for people who are LBGT.

https://www.ft.com/video/a49cfa25-610e-438c-b11d-5dac19619e08
 Anarchy

Realism Liberalism

International Interdependence
anarchic system (anarchy of a
(security dilemma) positive sum)

Acummulation
Cooperation
of power

Own Institutions
and regimes
with a long-
lasting
Alliances
vocation
(tactical)
Realists and Liberalists - debate

How do you think (1) Realists, and (2)

Liberalists would have reacted to the
terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001
on the United States?
What steps would have they taken to
ensure future US national security?
Bibliography

Baylis, J., & Smith, S. (2014). The globalization of world politics: An introduction to
international relations. Oxford University Press.

Donnelly, J. Realism and international relations (2000), Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

Doyle, M. ‘Liberalism and world politics’ (1986), The American Political Science Review

Mingst, K. A., & Arreguín-Toft, I. (2014). Essentials of international relations. Sixth edition.
W.W.: Norton & Company.

Nau, H. R. (2010). International relations in perspective: A reader. CQ Press.

United Nations, Charter of the United Nations, 24 October 1945.

Harvard Magazine: www.harvardmagazine.com.