Understanding World Politics

1
Understanding World Politics

• Liberalism and Neo-liberalism

2
Learning Objectives

• Principles of Liberalism and Neo-Liberalism
• Differences between Neo-realism and Neo-Liberalism

3
Key terms

• Absolute gains
• Commercial Liberalism
• Liberal Institutionalism
• Liberalism
• Market Failure
• Relative gains
• Republican Liberalism

4
Liberalism

• The Liberal tradition in political thought goes
  back at least as far as the thinking of John
  Locke in the late seventeenth century. Other
  important Liberals include Adam Smith, Immanuel
  Kant, and John Stuart Mill.
• Most prominent Liberal in foreign policy was U.S.
  President Woodrow Wilson.
• Other U.S. Presidents (e.g., Reagan, H.W. Bush,
  Clinton, W. Bush) pursue a more limited Liberal
  agenda in foreign policy.

5
What Unites Liberals? Overview

• Liberals stress the importance of individualism,
  tolerance, freedom, and constitutionalism and
  argue that there are universal values and rights
  that people have.
• Conservatives often emphasize order and authority
  and are willing to sacrifice individual liberty
  for communal stability.

6
The Liberal View of International Politics

• International system is anarchic.
• States value survival, but are not necessarily
  required to permanently attend to their own
  security.
• States can escape the Security Dilemma
• The character of anarchy can be transformed
  through the application of just principles.

7
Just Principles

• Policies that are consistent with the following
  values are considered just.
• Freedom
• Equality
• Reason
• Prosperity
• Competition

8
Liberalisms

• Commercial Liberalism
• Increasingly free trade and open borders are a
  force for peace
• Republican Liberalism
• Just political representation leads to peace
• Liberal Institutionalism
• International organizations and regimes help
  states reduce the uncertainties associated with
  anarchy.

9
How it works Commercial Liberalism

• Increasing trade ties create interdependencies
  among states.
• Trade creates wealth that actors are loathe to
  give up.
• Since war disrupts trade, it harms the interests
  of those that benefit from trade.

10
How it works Republican Liberalism

• Also known as democratic peace theory.
• Two contentions
• Members of the public favor peace
• divided representative government is a force for
  peace
• Democracies as a result are hesitant to go to war

11
How it Works Liberal Institutionalism

• Cooperation often fails because states do not
  have good information about the preferences of
  others or about the performance of their
  obligations.
• Institutions supply states with the information
  they need to make accurate judgments about their
  potential partners reliability.
• Institutions supply monitoring mechanisms that
  enable states to assess compliance rates.

12
Neo-liberalism

• Just as there is a structural version of realism,
  there is a structural version of liberalism
• Neo-liberals argue that the anarchic quality of
  international politics makes it difficult for
  states to cooperate.
• States fear cheating (the problem of Prisoners
  Dilemma)
• Problems associated with Market failure

13
Absolute Gains

• States can overcome their concern about cheating
  by creating institutions that monitor and enforce
  agreements.
• BUT, only if governments are concerned mainly
  with whether they gain from cooperation at all
  (absolute gains) and not whether they are gaining
  less than others (relative gains).

14
Is George W. Bush a Realist or a Liberal?

• President starts from assumption that the world
  is a dangerous place.
• Sees the utility of using force to solve
  international issues.
• Argues that promoting democracy is the way to a
  safer world.