International Relations Theory
Liberalism
GYÖRGY László, PhD
assistant professor
Budapest University of Technology and Economics
http://english.www.bme.hu/
[email protected]
Basic Vocabulary of Liberalism
John Locke
Jeremy Bentham
1. Positive view of human nature
(individuals are self-interested, but...
cooperative)
2. Liberal, civic society and modernization
3. Belief in progress (World War I, II, End
of the Cold War = “The end of
history?” (Fukuyama, 1989, 1992), 9/11)
Robert Keohane: “possibility of
cumulative progress”
4. State as constitutional entity =
Rechtsstaat (respect citizens rights to
life, liberty and property) (Locke)
5. International law (Jeremy Bentham): it
was the rational interests of states to
adhere to international law in their foreign
policies
6. Republics will establish perpetual peace
(Kant)
Francis Fukuyama
Robert Keohane
Basic Vocabulary of Liberalism
Classical liberalism
FOCUS
freedom, peace, progress, cooperation
EARLY THINKERS
Locke (1632-1704)
The rule of law
Bentham (1748-1832)
Liberal states respect
international law
Kant (1724-1804)
‘Republics will
establish perpetual
peace’
Federation of states
Basic liberal assumptions
Human progress
Human reason
Cooperation
The process of modernization: development of the modern state
Basic Strands of Liberalism
Sociological liberalism
Interdependence
liberalism
Institutional liberalism
Republican liberalism
Sociological Liberalism
• Transnationalism (Rosenau)
• Security community (Deutsch)
• Word Society: ‘Cobweb
model’ (Burton)
• Sociological liberal macro-level
analysis (Rosenau): anarchic system
has not disappeared, but a ‘multicentric world has emerged
James Rosenau
Karl Deutsch
The Cobweb Model
“crosscutting” and
overlapping
groups
Billiard balls collide
Cobweb of groups:
conflicts muted
Rosenau’s five principle
Citizens become important variables... in global
politics for at least five reasons
1. The erosion and dispersion of state and
governmental power
2. The rise of new media, use of computers,
growth of foreign travel, and migration and the
spread of educational institutions... has
enhanced the analytic skills of individuals
James Rosenau
3. The rise of global interdependence issues
(AIDS, terrorism, environmental pollution) make
citizens more active
4. Revolution of information technologies... make
possible to follow events
5. Leaders are increasingly becoming followers
because individuals are becoming increasingly
aware....
Definition
Sociological liberalism: a branch of liberal thinking which
stresses that IR is not only about state-state relations; it is
also about transnational relations, i.e. relations between
people, groups and organizations belonging to different
countries. The emphasis on society as well as the state, on
many different types of actor and not just national
governments, has led some to identify liberal thought by the
term ‘pluralism’.
Basic Strands of Liberalism
Sociological liberalism
Interdependence
liberalism
Institutional liberalism
Republican liberalism
Interdependence Liberalism
• Mutual dependence (Rosencrance, 1986, 1995, 1999)
• Economic development and foreign trade are more
•
•
•
•
•
adequate and less costly means of achieving prominence and
prosperity
Brute force is no longer the key to success, but highly
qualified labour, access to information, and financial
capital
Most economically successful countries of the post-war
period are the so called ‘trading states’ (Germany, Japan)
High division of labour in the international economy increases
interdependence and decreases the risk of war
Functionalist theory of integration (Mitrany, 1966):
cooperation should be arranged by technical experts and not
by politicians.
Neofunctionalist theory (Haas): integration is not only
technical, but political as well. ‘Political actors are persuaded
to shift their loyalties...’. ‘Spillover’; One way process
‘Complex Interdependence’
• Power and Interdependence (Keohane
Robert Keohane
and Nye, 1977, 2001): post-war ‘complex
interdependence’ is qualitatively different
from earlier kinds of interdependence
• ‘High politics’ as security and survival vs
‘low politics’ as social and economic
affairs are not easily separable anymore
1. Intergovernmental relations on many
different levels via many different
actors and branches of government
2. Host of transnational relations outside
of the state
3. Military force is less useful
Joseph Nye
‘Complex Interdependence’
• IR is becoming more like domestic
politics (issues/coalitions)
1. States will pursue different goals
simultaneously + NGOs +
corporations.
2. Power allocation, resources to
specific issue areas.
3. The importance of international
organizations will increase, because
of small countries....
• Time and space: after the 1950s and
in the industrialized, pluralist
countries
‘Complex Interdependence’
Realism or Interdependence
• ‘It is not impossible to imagine dramatic conflict or revolutionary
•
change in which the use of threat of military force over an
economic issue or among advanced industrial countries might
become plausible. Then realist assumptions would again be a reliable
guide to events,’ (Keohane and Nye, 1977)
Complex interdependence should supplement realism
Basic Strands of Liberalism
Sociological liberalism
Interdependence
liberalism
Institutional liberalism
Republican liberalism
Institutional Liberalism
• Beneficial effect of institutions (from jungle to zoo) vs realism: mere
‘scraps of paper’
• What is an international institution? International organization, or a set of rule=regime
• Behaviouralistic, scientific approach
• Scope: number of issue areas
• Depth:
• Commonality: the degree to which expectations are shared
• Specificity: the degree to which expectations are clearly
specified
• Autonomy: the degree of independence of the institution
Institutional Liberalism
The role of institutions
• Provide a flow of information and opportunities
to negotiate
• Enhance the ability of governments to monitor
others’ compliance
• Strengthen prevailing expectations about the
solidity of international agreements
Evidence of the 1990s: Neorealism vs institutional liberalism
Institutional Liberalism
A typology of international and transnational organizations
GOAL OF ORGANIZATION
Regional
Universal
TERMS OF MEMBERSHIP
Specific
General
Intergovernmental
NATO, NAFTA
AU (African Union)
Supranational
ECSC
EU
Transnational
European Movement
Intergovernmental
European AntiPoverty Network
WHO, IAEA
Supranational
IMF (?)
-
Transnational
Amnesty
International
World Federalist
Association
UN
Sociological liberalism
Interdependence
liberalism
Institutional liberalism
Republican liberalism
Republican Liberalism
• Basic assumption: liberal democracies are more peaceful and law-abiding...
• ‘Manifesto’: Perpetual Peace. •
(Immanuel Kant, 1795)
1. The Civil Constitution of every State Immanuel Kant
shall be Republican (domestic political cultures based on peaceful conflict resolution)
2. The Right of Nations shall be based on a federation of
Free States (common moral values)
3. Cosmopolitan Right shall be limited to Conditions of
Universal Hospitality (Universal Human Rights and
Commitments)
Democratic zone of peace
• Transformation in the 1990’s. ‘The evidence is not
supportive of any profound optimism’. Why? Continued one sided dependence
Neoliberalism and neorealism:
the MAINSTREAM
• Problem solving paradigms: interested in status quo
(so called atlantic researchers)
• Different view points originated from different values
• At least see the same world, but from different view
points
• System maintainers (neoliberalism and
neorealism) vs system criticizers (structuralism)
main values: welfare, justice, fairness
Neoliberalism
• Shaped by the assumptions of sociological,
interdependence, institutional and republican liberalism
• These countries promote free trade and democracy in
their foreign policy programs.
• Roots: examples of atlantic integration
• See institutions as the mediator and the means to
•
•
achieve cooperation. Regimes and institutions help
govern a competitive and anarchic international system
and they encourage, and at times require,
multilateralism and cooperation as a means of
securing national interests
Cooperation only when mutual gains achievable
Belief in absolute gains
Neoliberalism
Neoliberals favourite example in the 1990ies
Coalition of the willing
2003
The neo-neo debate
Neorealism
Neoliberalism
International
System
Anarchic. Anarchy put more constraints Anarchic. NRs minimize the
on the state and NLs minimize the
importance of international interimportance of survival as the goal of
dependence and regimes
state
Focus
Relative power, security, survival in a
competitive (and anarchic) international
system, “high politics”
Economic welfare, international
political economy (IPE),
environment, “low politics”
International
cooperation
Will not happen unless states make it
happen. Hard to achieve, difficult to
maintain, and dependent on state
power
Easy to achieve in areas where
states have mutual interests
Gains
The fundamental goal of states in
cooperative relationships is to prevent
others from gaining more. (Relative
gains)
Actors with common interests try to
maximize absolute gains
Emphasis
Capabilities over intentions and interests Intentions and preferences
Institutions
and regimes
Do not mitigate the constraining effects Significant forces in international
of anarchy on cooperation
relations, that facilitate cooperation
The neo-neo debate
• NR and NL are mainstream theories on mainstream issues.
1. What about inequality;
2. Society and domestic politics;
3. Ethical and moral issues backed by the society and international
networks.
4. What about a less state-centric world?
Weak liberals vs strong liberals
Weak liberals
Strong liberals
Anarchy
Progressive change with irreversible longterm effects
Restricted role for international institutions
Higher standard of living, more peaceful
world
Democracies won’t turn back to autocracy
anymore
States co-existing within the constraints of the
security dilemma
War is too expensive, quitting cooperation
is too expensive
Liberalism and World Order
• Deudney and Ikenberry (1999) - strong liberals
1. Security co-binding
2. Penetrated reciprocal hegemony
3. Semi-sovereign and partial great powers (Germany, Japan)
4. Economic openness
5. Civic identity
• These characteristics (will) survive after the collapse of the Soviet
Union as well
• Kagan (2003): Power and Paradise: Americans from the Mars,
Europeans from the Venus
Liberalism and World Order
• Isaiah Berlin (1969):
• Negative liberty (linked to property) vs Positive liberty (health,
economic resources, education)
• Liberalism of Restraint vs Liberalism of Imposition (Wilson,
Kennedy, Bush, Blair) - wants to go out and forcefully change the
world in a liberal direction
The World is Flat (2005)
The World is Flat (2005)
The World is Flat (2005)
The World is Flat (2005)
1. Globalization 1.0: 1492-1820
2. Globalization 2.0: 1820-2000
3. Globalization 3.0: 2000-
The World is Flat (2005)
1. 1989.11.09.
2. 1995.08.09.
3. Workflow
4. Outsourcing
5. Offshoring
6. Open sourcing
7. Wal-Mart supply chaining
8. Insourcing
9. Informing
10. Steroids
The World is Flat (2005)
• Triple convergence
1. 10 flatting factor at once
2. Learning how to cooperate horizontally
3. 3 billion people are joining the system (or at least 10% of it)
The World is Flat (2005)
• Critique
1. What if resources become scarce?
2. What about vertical interdependence?
3. What about those who cannot or do not want to join the system?