Liberalism

Preface:
Liberalism is a political doctrine that takes protecting and enhancing the freedom of
the individual to be the central problem of politics. Liberals typically believe that
government is necessary to protect individuals from being harmed by others, but
they also recognize that government itself can pose a threat to liberty. Although
realism is regarded as the dominant theory of international relations, liberalism to
being the historic alternative. In the 20th century, liberal thinking influenced policy-
making elites' public opinion in a number of western states after the First World War,
an era often referred to in academic international relations as “Idealism”. There was
a brief resurgence of liberal sentiment at the end of the Second World War with the
birth of the United Nations, although this beacon of hope was soon extinguished by
the return of the Cold War politics. In the 1990s the idea of liberalism seems to be
more dominant as the western state leaders proclaimed a new world order and
provide its theoretical justification for the inherent supremacy over all other
competing ideologies. But after 9/11, the pendulum has once again swung towards
the realist pole as the USA and its allies had tried to impose their power and punish
those whom they define as terrorists and the states that provide them with shelter.

Defining Liberalism:
Liberalism is a defining feature of modern democracy, illustrated by the prevalence
of the term ‘liberal democracy’ as a way to describe countries with free and fair
elections, rule of law and protected civil liberties. Liberal thought about the nature
of international relations has a long tradition dating back to the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries. Liberalism is founded on the belief that individual freedom
should be the basis of a just society. Many writers have tended to view liberalism as
a theory of government. This theory seeks to unify order (security) and justice
(equality) within a particular community. Properly conceived, liberal thought on a
global scale embodies a domestic analogy operating at multiple levels. This idea
believes that like individuals, states have different characteristics; some are war
prone and others are tolerant and peaceful. Liberals see a further parallel between
individuals and sovereign states. On the other level, the domestic analogy refers to
the extension of ideas that originated inside liberal states to the international realm,
such as the coordinating role played by institution and the centrality of the rule of
the law to the idea of it just order. In a sense, historical project of liberalism is the
domestication of the international.

Basic Assumptions of Liberalism:

The main points of the liberal world view or perspective can then be summarised
thus:
➢ Rationality and inherent good nature are the defining characteristics of human
kind.
➢ While people rationally pursue their own interests, there is a potential
harmony of interests between people
➢ Cooperation is possible and is in fact a central feature of all human relations,
including international.
➢ Liberalism challenges the distinction between the domestic and the
international realm, claiming that multiple sets of relationships between
people transcend national borders.
➢ Government is necessary, but the centralization of power is inherently bad.
➢ Individual liberty is of supreme political importance.
➢ Because cooperation is possible, liberals believe it is thus possible to achieve
positive changes in international relations.

Varieties of liberalism:
Liberal thinking in international relations can be traced back to various peace plans
advanced by the philosophers and theologians since the 16th century. They rejected
the idea that conflict was a natural condition for relation between states. The relation
between states has to be carefully managed two maintaining a tricky balance of
power and the construction of alliance against the states that threatened international
relations.
 ❑ Desiderius Erasmus’s Liberal theme: Erasmus was the first
liberal thinker to conceptualize a much popular liberal theme that is “War is
unprofitable”, whereas the realists think that war is inevitable. To overcome
the mentality of war, kings and the Princess of Europe, must desire peace and
perform kind gesture in relations to each other so that it will be reciprocated.

❑ William Penn’s Liberal theme: Many of the liberal thinkers

proposed of creating institutions that will constrain international outlaws.
William Penn advocated for a European diet (European Parliament). Penn was
committed to peace, and saw the creation of a European Parliament as the
correct means through which peace could be achieved, and justice and
prosperity could be returned to the suffering people of Europe. Penn imagined
an idea that the number of delegates would be proportional to the power of
the state and the legislation required a kind of “qualified majority voting”, can
be translated into 75% agreeing to it. Penn’s idea of 1693 could be seen as a
precursor to the present-day European Union. It also states another important
liberal theme; the importance of submitting ‘separate wills’ of individual
states to a ‘general will’ agreed by states acting collectively.

Key Themes of Early Liberalism:

Taking the historical approach, we can identify several key themes of early
liberalism-
✓ Liberal Internationalism
✓ Idealism
✓ liberal Institutionalism

Liberal Internationalism: Liberal internationalism is a set of related concepts

on how to best organize international relations between states and non-state actors
that emphasizes a belief in international progress, interdependence, cooperation,
diplomacy, multilateralism, and support for international political structures and
organizations. liberal internationalism is optimistic about the world and actors
engaged in international relations. The theory assumes that we can move past the
violence and anarchy of the international system through cooperation. Liberal
internationalists believe that humans by nature are good, or at least, not naturally
aggressive. They also have faith in the good that both domestic and international
organizations and institutions can do.
Immanuel Kant and Jeremy Bentham were the leading liberal internationalist of the
Enlightenment era. Europe was plagued by religious wars. One third people of the
German empire decimated due to hunger caused by the advancement of Russian and
French soldiers. Kant mentioned this situation as “lawless state of wildness”. This
disgust led both Kant & Bentham to formulate plans for ‘perpetual peace’. Although
the idea was written over two centuries ago, they outlined some of the key beliefs of
liberal internationalism.

Immanuel Kant’s Idea of Liberal Internationalism:

Perpetual peace refers to a state of affairs where peace is permanently established
over a certain area (Ideally the whole world). For Kant three conditions are
required to achieve a perpetual peace-
• The transformation of individual consciousness
• Republican constitutionalism
• A federal contract between states to abolish war
This federation can be Compared to a permanent peace treaty rather than a ‘super
state’ actor.

Jeremy Bentham’s Idea of Liberal Internationalism:

Bentham tried to address play specific tendency among the states to resort to war as
a means of settling international disputes. he suggested for establishing a special
tribunal that will be able to resolve the crisis and reduce the necessity to resort war
from a ‘different opinion’.
General themes of Liberal Internationalism:
▪ The plans for ‘permanent peace’ advanced by the liberal internationalists
imply an extension of ‘social contract’ between individuals in domestic
society to states in international sphere.
▪ Subjecting states to a system of legal rights and duties.
▪ the liberal internationalists believed that a law governed society could emerge
without a world government.
▪ Cooperation is a natural order; as it has created societies, then states, it could
create international corporation.
▪ Natural harmony of interests

Idealism:
Idealism refers to an approach to international politics that seeks to advance certain
ideals or moral goals, for example, making the world a more peaceful or just place.
Idealism in the foreign policy context holds that a nation-state should make its
internal political philosophy the goal of its conduct and rhetoric in international
affairs. For example, an idealist might believe that ending poverty at home should
be coupled with tackling poverty abroad. Rather than relying on ‘natural harmony’
to deliver peace, idealist believed that a new international order had to be
constructed, one which was managed by international institution. This represents a
significant shift from the 19th century liberal internationalists to the idealist of early
20th century. The idealists were motivated by the desire to prevent war.
The First World War shifted the previous idea that peace is not a normal condition;
it must be constructed. the very next powerful attack on the idea that peace and
prosperity was inherent in natural order; Leonard Woolf argued that peace and
prosperity required ‘consciously devised machinery’.

Woodrow Wilson in Idealism:

The biggest champion of the similar idea of idealism was originated from U.S.
President Woodrow Wilson. The Fourteen Points by Wilson was a statement of
principles for peace that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end World
War I. The principles were outlined in a January 8, 1918, speech on war aims and
peace terms to the United States. These 14 points counted as the key themes of
idealism. He argued that peace would only be secured with the creation of an
international institution to regulate the international anarchy. Security could not be
left to be secret bilateral deals and the blind faith in balance of power.

Like domestic society International Society must have a system of governance which
has domestic procedures for coping with disputes and an international force which
could be mobilized if negotiations failed. In this sense, liberal idealism rests on a
domestic analogy.

Idealism and collective security:

Collective security can be understood as a security arrangement, political, regional,
or global, in which each state in the system accepts that the security of one is the
concern of all, and therefore commits to a collective response to threats to, and
breaches to peace. Collective security system can be contrasted with alliance system
where a group of countries join together to respond to specific threats. This is also
known as collective defence. In the case of the League of Nations, Article 16 noted
the obligation that in the event of war, all member states must stop normal relations
with the offending state, impose sanctions, and if necessary, commit their armed
forces to the disposal of the League council.
The experiment of the League of Nations was a disaster. while the moral rhetoric
was idealist, in practice the states remained imprisoned by self-interest.

Success of Idealism:
Although the League of Nations was the principal idealists inter-war order, there
were other areas where the idealist had significant contribution. education became a
vital addition to the idealist agenda; academic discipline of IR.
The belief that the scholarship is about ‘what ought to’ is what set the idealists apart
from the other liberals of the later period.
Outside of military- security areas, idealists had some other significant contribution.
Wilson’s emphasis on national self-determination was later reflected in the process
of decolonization. ‘1948 Universal Declaration of human rights’ was one of the
contributions of idealism.

Liberal Institutionalism:
Liberal institutionalism argues that emphasis should be placed on global governance
and international organizations as a way of explaining international relations.
Institutionalism places emphasis on the role that common goals play in the
international system and the ability of international organizations to get states to
cooperate. Liberal Institutionalism presumes that domestic and international
institutions play central roles in facilitating cooperation and peace between nation-
states.
In the early 1940s, there was a recognition of the need to replace the League of
Nations with another institution with responsibility for peace of security. The work
of liberal institutionalist rejected the traditional realist view of the world being state
centric. World politics was no longer the exclusive arena for states only; as it had
been for the first 300 years since the Treaty of Westphalia. Robert Keohane and
Joseph Nye argued the centrality of the other actors such as interest groups,
transnational corporation, and international nongovernmental organization. The
overriding image of the international relations is a cobweb of diverse actors linked
through multiple channels of interaction. The idea of transnationalism, often the
whole concept is known as ‘pluralism’ has not been developed much later. the
contribution of pluralism lies in its elaboration of interdependence

Neo Liberalism:
Neoliberalism is a policy model that encompasses both politics and economics and
seeks to transfer the control of economic factors from the public sector to the private
sector. Many neoliberalism policies enhance the workings of free market capitalism
and attempt to place limits on government spending, government regulation, and
public ownership. Neoliberalism it's called the update version of liberalism. David
A. Baldwin described the idea of neoliberalism by defining four characteristics-
➢ Commercial Liberalism: This idea advocates that free trade, free
market, capitalist idea can bring peace and prosperity. this view is promoted
by the global financial institution like world bank and IMF. The Multinational
corporation is also linked with this idea.

➢ Republican Liberalism: Democratic states gives concentration in

giving respect to the rights of the citizen and less likely to go to war. A
democratic country very rarely goes to war with another democratic country.
There are not interested to go to war and that's why Is might be established
there. It is called ‘democratic peace theory’.
These two forms of liberalism Have been combined to form the core foreign policy
goals of the many of the world's major power. This neoliberal internationalism idea
is promoted by USA and it's G8 partners

➢ Sociological liberalism: Due to globalization transnational activities

take place vastly. The notion of community and process of interdependence
are very important element. So, it's become more difficult for a nation to act
individually. Interdependence takes place as people and states are connected
to other states. So, it is very difficult for a nation to avoid cooperation

➢ Neoliberal Institutionalism: By this idea many scholars to present

the most convincing challenge to the realist and neorealist thinking. The basic
idea is regional integration of states in order to ensure economic, political, and
cultural development between member states. It increases the linkage between
the states and the non-state actors. These institutions try to build peace by
dealing the international issues and multiple channels for interaction across
national boundaries. Also, it works with interaction between people to people
and exchanging the culture an education between the states.
The Neo-Neo Debate:
The neo-neo debate is basically the difference between neorealism and
neoliberalism-
Neorealism
Neorealism focuses on military and
security issues (High Politics)
According to the neorealist every state
gives maximum concentration on
relative gain as well as on absolute
gain. Security issue is the supreme
concentration.
Cooperation is not possible in this
international anarchic system. All
states are in competition with their
goals.
Neoliberalism
Neo Liberalism focuses on economy,
environment, human rights and moral
issues (Low politics)
In neoliberalism, it's are less concerned
with relative gain. They give
concentration on human rights and
economic development.
Cooperation is a definite possibility in
this international system. with the
cooperation every state might achieve
their mutual gains.