strengths and weaknesses of liberal internationalism
In short, there are good reasons to be skeptical of the argument that the LIO is more than the sum of its parts: alliances may not increase economic openness, and economic openness sometimes decreases U.S. security. Copyright 2003 - 2023 - UKEssays is a trading name of Business Bliss Consultants FZE, a company registered in United Arab Emirates. 1016, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2016-12-12/will-liberal-order-survive. Framing China as a threat to the LIO reflects and combines both of these dangers, and thereby unnecessarily aggravates U.S.-China relations.97. Again, this seems an unlikely explanation; although trade and Western financial systems certainly contributed to the West's economic success, the deep source of divergence was almost certainly between the dynamism of capitalist systems compared to the stagnation of the Soviet communist system. In contrast to the four other LIO mechanisms, the core of convergence is essentially transformational: the international order achieves these positive outcomes by changing states, aligning their interests and advancing their understandings of acceptable means for achieving their foreign policy objectives.37, The convergence-driven transition to democracy could occur incrementally through a variety of reinforcing mechanisms. This is a serious limitation, because the LIO is a partial order; it does not (and did not) include key major powers. The institutional binding argument suffers serious weaknesses. Liberman, Trading with the Enemy: Security and Relative Economic Gains, International Security, Vol. 5262, which highlights the central role of the Soviet threat; Stewart Patrick, The Best Laid Plans: The Origins of American Multilateralism and the Dawn of the Cold War (New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 2009), especially pp. There is no historical example of an incumbent in President Joe Biden 's current position (over . Collective security is a strength of the liberal perspective on world politics. In the conclusion, I identify policy issues and options raised by employing a grand strategy framework. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 7793. hasContentIssue false, Liberal internationalism: strengths and limits, Law and legitimacy in networked governance, https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511792625.003, Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. The norm of inviolable state sovereignty was challenged widely, leading to numerous humanitarian interventions conducted in the name of universal human rights. The LIO discourse proceeds as though these theories are widely accepted, when in fact scholarly debate over them continues. For example, unilateral restraint can signal a state's benign motives; and an arms control agreement can reduce the probability that an adversary will gain an offensive military advantage. Weaker states may believe that the agreement is legitimate because the dominant state did not to use military force; or they may simply recognize that the deal is the best they can get and accept it because the benefits exceed the risks. 1) Compare and contrast realist and liberal theories of international relations. International cooperation has also helped harmonised trade and security agreements amongst states; an example of this is the development of the European Union in Europe and led to greater bonds and peace between nations. International Security In addition to being a means to an end, an order can be a constraint on a state's behavior. However, those arguments have been challenged. For an understanding along these lines, see Goldstein, Rising to the Challenge, pp. This focus is striking because explaining cooperation among allies is relatively easy; explaining the possibilities for cooperation between adversaries is both more difficult and more important. 4 (Spring 1997), pp. 4345; and Brooks and Wohlforth, America Abroad, pp. The key principles of liberal internationalism are cooperation, interdependence, international organizations, and international commerce. And again, the solution was NATO, which provides U.S. power to an already deeply institutionalized Europe.48. U.S. discussions of the international order fit firmly in this category.8 In contrast, other analyses highlight the contested nature of norms and institutions, which they attribute to the combined effects of the unequal distribution of global power and the tremendous influence of the most powerful states in shaping the order.9 These analyses place greater weight on questions of justice, global inequality, and poverty, and emphasize their importance for the order's legitimacy. To appreciate the full strength of my critique, it is necessary to remember that the LIO concept does not provide a framework for explaining cooperation between adversaries. please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. 4 (July/August 2018), pp. Another distinction is between global and regional orders, see David A. The remainder of this article explores the LIO, because it is the focus of current U.S. discussions of the international order. 68, No. Included among these works are Michael Mandelbaum, The Ideas That Conquered the World: Peace, Democracy, and Free Markets in the Twenty-First Century (New York: PublicAffairs, 2003); and Thomas L. Friedman, The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000). 101126; and G. John Ikenberry, Liberal Leviathan: The Origins, Crisis, and Transformation of the American World Order (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2011), pp. A weakness of the liberal perspective on the world is that of the Liberal institutionalism. Thus, using realism as a structure to explain international . Some U.S. officials, including George Kennan, favored this approach. Shifting to a grand-strategic framework should impose the analytic discipline required to avoid these errors. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, liberal internationalism underwent a renaissance. 1 (Summer 1996), pp. Registered office: Creative Tower, Fujairah, PO Box 4422, UAE. This realization, combined with growing recognition that the Soviet Union posed a major security threat, which made strong allies more important, fueled the shift away from economic openness.93. 367368. 1 (Spring 1996), pp. 169173. Consequently, the LIO concept can shed little light on the most important issues in international politicsspecifically, the prospects for peace and cooperation between the United States and its allies, on the one hand, and its adversaries and competitors, on the other. See, for example, Bruce Russett, Grasping the Democratic Peace: Principles for a PostCold War World (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1993). Shawn has a masters of public administration, JD, and a BA in political science. The freedom of the economy has in some cases led to countries allowing freedom of speech and other basic human rights but it has also helped to alleviate poverty in certain areas of the world. An international order is widely understood by scholars as the explicit principles, rules, and institutions that define the core relationship between the states that are party to the order.5 Therefore, almost any international situation qualifies as an international order, so long as its members accept the sovereignty norm. 54, No. 1 (Summer 1989), pp. Compare to constructivism the realism theories and liberalism theories became more popular. 8090, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2014-04-17/illusion-geopolitics; and G. Daniel Deudney and G. John Ikenberry, Liberal World: The Resilient Order, Foreign Affairs, Vol. Because they are explicitly exclusionary, spheres of influence are understood to reflect some degree of competition. Since the late 1960s, we have experimented with generation after generation of electronic publishing tools. 136138, doi.org/10.1080/09557571.2011.570740; Keir A. Lieber and Gerald Alexander, Waiting for Balancing: Why the World Is Not Pushing Back, International Security, Vol. } It is idealistic, with complete trust in international organizations to deliver social justice and liberty. In this spirit, see Rebecca Friedman Lissner and Mira Rapp-Hooper, The Day after Trump: American Strategy for a New International Order, Washington Quarterly, Vol. On the latter, see Matthew Evangelista, Unarmed Forces: The Transnational Movement to End the Cold War (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1999). Get unlimited access to over 88,000 lessons. lessons in math, English, science, history, and more. Recent analyses, however, have started to criticize U.S. domestic policy for failing to share the benefits and offset the costs of open trade, which has in turn undermined the domestic legitimacy of the LIO. Critical of the violence and hypocrisy of the international system, those proponents proposed a variety of ways to transform the system. Should the United States continue its security commitment to East Asia? Internationalists were split between those who believed that reform would come about mainly or solely through a shift in norms (international morality) and those who thought that the only feasible route was through significant institutional construction at the international level. A supranational political structure is a political entity that encompasses two or more states, which is delegated a degree of power over its member states. While critics of the theory claim it is too utopian and ignores the reality of power politics, the theory does help explain international cooperation and provides a road map for an alternative way to create a peaceful and less anarchical international system. Yet, despite the centrality of the LIO to U.S. foreign policy discourse, scholars have devoted little effort to scrutinizing key strands of the LIO concept and claims about the outcomes the LIO has produced.4 This article seeks to fill these gaps in the literature. Collective Security, Arms Control, and the New Europe, International Security, Vol. They started by challenging what they identified as the root of the problem: the interests and actions of the ruling aristocracies. The fifth section offers alternative explanations for international behavior that some theorists credit to the LIO. Copeland, Economic Interdependence and War. On a hierarchical order built on the provision of justice, see Ahsan I. Walt, Origins of Alliances; and Stephen M. Walt, Alliances in a Unipolar World, World Politics, Vol. Another strand of the LIO concept holds that hierarchy built on legitimate authority, granted by subordinate (i.e., weaker) states to the dominant (i.e., stronger) state, is essential to explaining cooperation under anarchy. Donnelly, Sovereign Inequalities and Hierarchy in Anarchy: American Power and International Society, European Journal of International Relations, Vol. Although proponents of selective/deep engagement accept that there is some uncertainty about whether U.S. forward-deployed security commitments are necessary to preserve the open international economic system, they conclude that the value of economic openness warrants buying insurance via these security commitments. The soldiers will get a shiny medal or fly home first class in a flag-draped coffin and be called a hero who gave his life for freedom. How should U.S. policy adapt, if at all? Realism, however, does an excellent job of explaining NATO's formation and success. 2 (March/April 2011), pp. Art, A Defensible Defense: America's Grand Strategy after the Cold War, International Security, Vol. The LIO lens lacks analytic value, both because the LIO concept is inward looking, which leaves it unable to address U.S. interactions with its adversaries, and theoretically weak, which leaves it unable to explain much about the United States interactions with its allies. See, for example, Stewart Patrick, World Order: What, Exactly, Are the Rules? Washington Quarterly, Vol. For a summary of the history, but not this argument, see Ikenberry, After Victory, pp. Because the United States is a liberal democracy, during the Cold War its NATO partners were far less worried that the United States would exploit vulnerabilities that were generated by the alliance.66 This information argument is far more compelling than the institutional binding argument. Central to Lake's understanding of legitimacy is duty: It is the duty to comply with the ruler's commandsor alternatively the legitimacy of those commandsthat renders authority and coercion conceptually distinct.28, Scholars who study institutions have identified a variety of ways in which international institutions can help states achieve common objectives, including by providing information, reducing transaction costs, and increasing efficiency in the implementation of shared functions.29 The LIO concept goes further, holding that states can bind themselves to institutions. The relationship between the United States and these countries remains anarchic, with all of the security pressures and incentives that the international system can fuel under certain conditions. The LIO concept suffers from two main problems. From simple essay plans, through to full dissertations, you can guarantee we have a service perfectly matched to your needs. To take an obvious example, NATO certainly influenced U.S.-Soviet interactions during the Cold War. Given the extent of the problems with the LIO lens, why is it so widely employed in the current U.S. foreign policy debate? Violence should be a tool of last resort. The theory emphasizes a belief in international progress, interdependence, cooperation, diplomacy, multilateralism and support for supranational political structures and international organizations. U.S. alliances with Western Europe and Japan are cited as key examples of hierarchical security arrangements that reflect duty,50 but the evidence suggests otherwise. 155183, https://www.jstor.org/stable/25053996. Consistent with this argument is Jack S. Levy and William R. Thompson, Balancing on Land and at Sea: Do States Ally against the Leading Global Power? International Security, Vol. Gene Gerzhoy, Alliance Coercion and Nuclear Restraint: How the United States Thwarted West Germany's Nuclear Ambitions, International Security, Vol. This observation is consistent with the more general institutional argument that international regimes are easier to maintain than to create. The question here is whether these specific instances of cooperation were essential for maintaining overall economic openness or were instead relatively small additions to openness; the latter seems likely. 19, No. The political convergence argument posits that authoritarian regimes that engage with the globalized international economy will eventually become liberal democracies. Liberalism is a philosophical concept concerned with human rights, freedom, and equality in accordance with the law. Gholz, Press, and Sapolsky, Come Home America, pp. Furthermore, the bundling of the security and economic components of U.S. international policy under the LIO umbrella does not define a whole that is significantly greater than the sum of its parts. According to a 1989 study, The allocation of burdens and responsibilities has been a contentious issue since the formation of the alliance. 1 (Summer 1992), pp. 5885, doi.org/10.1017/S0043887109000082. 8091, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/asia/2011-03-01/will-chinas-rise-lead-war. Collective security replaces the realist idea of self help. In this section, I continue to explore the LIO concept by probing the logic of certain of its key mechanisms. 2532, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2016-12-12/once-and-future-order. On the range of illiberal challenges facing the United States and LIO, see Michael J. Boyle, The Coming Illiberal Order, Survival, Vol. For example, if the U.S.-Japan alliance increases China's security by reducing its fears of Japan, China could be more willing to engage in trade. al., Did America Get China Wrong? p. 189. From time to time certain models dominated the theoretical and practical agenda. Similarly, a state can choose to join an orderabide by its rules and norms and participate in its institutionsin pursuit of its interests (i.e., ends).16. Readers of International Security discover new developments in: please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. For more than a decade, it has become increasingly clear that China is building conventional and nuclear forces designed to reduce U.S. military capabilities. Historically, liberal internationalism has been a prescriptive ideology. Describe the tenets of liberal internationalism, Explain the benefits and criticisms of this theory. In effect, this perspective implicitly assumes that what is good for the United States is good for others as well. 97, No. The advantages of liberal internationalism include multilateral development, the promotion of world peace, and the diversification of cultures. 265276. Often under uncertainty, a mix of these more cooperative and more competitive policies is the best bet. Proponents can point to examples of successful cooperation, such as the growing international consensus on human rights. Total loading time: 0 Like any theory, liberal internationalism has both strengths and weaknesses. A related, distinction is whether an international order is a means or an outcome (i.e., a result).17 For example, Hedley Bull, an early theorist of international order, defines international order as a pattern of behavior that sustains the elementary or primary goals of the society of states, or international society. This definition conceives international order as an outcomein this particular case, a pattern. As a bipartisan group of former government officials concluded in 2016, The great task of our time is therefore to preserve, adapt and extend that order as best we can.3. A specific type of international orderthe liberal international order (LIO)plays a central role in current analyses of and debates over U.S. foreign policy. U.S. foreign policy will be inflexible, when the shifting balance of power may call for concessions and revised understandings of appropriate behavior. 1724. Proponents of deep engagement disagree, arguing that although unnecessary for preserving openness, hegemonic leadership does make openness more likely, and, consequently, the United States should continue its forward security engagement.89. International Security publishes lucid, well-documented essays Although the concept's inward focus leaves the LIO with little ability to directly affect U.S. relations with adversaries, the LIO might enhance its members ability to cooperate and coordinate with each other. Whereas the LIO analysis implicitly assumes that the answer is yes, the current debate over U.S. grand strategy is deeply divided on this issue.100 Should the United States continue to favor economic openness? The document argues later that the order is both a means and an end, but the logic is not convincing, see ibid., p. 40. However, many of the most-prominent liberal internationalists (including Spencer) were ardent critics of imperialism. Explore the definition, political impact, principles, roles in international relations, strengths, and weaknesses of Marxism. Thomas J. Christensen, China, the U.S.-Japan Alliance, and the Security Dilemma in East Asia, International Security, Vol. 3 (Summer 1996), pp. post-Soviet security issues 3 (Summer 2013), pp. See Richard K. Betts, American Strategy: Grand vs. Grandiose, in Richard Fontaine and Kristen M. Lord, eds., America's Path: Grand Strategy for the Next Administration (Washington, D.C.: Center for a New American Security, May 2012), pp. Much of the discussion of the LIO starts from the premise that it is desirable and needs to be preserved.95 During periods of significant change in the distribution of power, however, the United States should be reconsidering whether to preserve its international commitments and exploring how best to achieve its fundamental interests in the decades ahead.96. First, it would improve analysis of U.S. interests and threats to those interests. Whether this will be possible without the United States enjoying a large stable power advantage is the source of extensive scholarly and policy debate.101 China's integration into the global economy is likely now so extensive that greatly reducing it would be too costly and would do little to forestall further U.S. relative economic losses.102 In this case, the United States will need to commit itself to long-term domestic policies designed to preserve its overall ability to compete.103. Unfortunately, the powerful state will be unable to significantly reduce these risks via institutional binding. Balance of threat theory explains the basics of NATO well; although U.S. power surpassed Soviet power during the Cold War, NATO's Western European members were much closer geographically to the Soviet Union (which enhanced its offensive potential against them) and believed that Soviet intentions were much more malign than U.S. intentions.65. 1 (Winter 2007), pp. Lake, Hierarchy in International Relations, pp. 2 (January 1997), pp. William C. Wohlforth, Realism, in Christian Reus-Smit and Duncan Snidal, eds., The Oxford Handbook of International Relations (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), pp. Stephen G. Brooks and William C. Wohlforth, America Abroad: The United States Global Role in the 21st Century (New York: Oxford University Press, 2016), pp. For more extensive discussions, see Robert Gilpin, The Challenge of Global Capitalism: The World Economy in the 21st Century (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2000), pp. On the assumption that the member in which the structural form changes from steel reinforced concrete (SRC) structure to reinforced concrete (RC) structure, two kinds of experiments were carried. See also Robert J. My critique does not challenge the core institutionalist arguments about the potential of international institutions to influence states behavior.42 Nor does it take a position in the debate over the international impacts of democracy. For an overview of these arguments, see Brooks and Wohlforth, America Abroad, pp. 161166. The sixth section reviews research that demonstrates that interactions between the LIO's security and economic components do not make it significantly more than the sum of its parts. Kurt Campbell et al., Extending American Power: Strategies to Expand U.S. Cooperation, interdependence, international organizations, and international commerce are the essential components of liberal internationalism. Its articles cover contemporary policy issues, and probe 1 (October 1997), pp. Realists view this much scepticism as they dont see why a country would want give up their own national sovereignty. 705735, doi.org/10.1162/002081800551343. Liberal internationalism asserts that each nation equally contributes to global peace and no nation is more important than another. On related points, see also Richard Fontaine and Mira Rapp-Hooper, How China Sees World Order: Can Beijing Be a Responsible Stakeholder'? National Interest, MayJune 2016, p. 3, http://nationalinterest.org/feature/how-china-sees-world-order-15846; and Michael J. Mazarr, The Once and Future Order: What Comes after Hegemony? Foreign Affairs, Vol. But even before the Cold War began and fear of the Soviet Union had crystalized, Britain and France had opposed the creation of a purely European institution, that is, one that did not include the United States. For reviews of the literature, see Barbara Geddes, What Do We Know about Democratization after Twenty Years? Annual Review of Political Science, Vol. In place of centralized government primarily through national-states, within relatively loose forms of international coordination, there has been a shift towards what has been described as multilevel governance. arms control and weapons proliferation Liberals believe in international cooperation as a way to great global harmony this can be seen to be coupled with collective security as a way to achieve this. While some scholars argue that the existing systemic theories . 19, No. According to LIO theorists, the order is characterized by hierarchy, not anarchythat is, the lack of an international institution or state that can prevent the use of military force and enforce international agreements. Art, A Defensible Defense, pp. Ikenberry argues that liberal theories grasp the way in which institutions can channel and constrain state actions, but they have not explored a more far-reaching view, in which leading states use intergovernmental institutions to restrain themselves and thereby dampen fears of domination and abandonment in secondary states.30 For Ikenberry, the ability of powerful states to bind themselves to rules, agreements, and institutions makes exit from the institutions sufficiently difficult and costly that a dominant state can reassure weaker members that it will meet its obligations and not use its superior force against their interests. A state that leaves an alliance understands that the remaining members will not (or at least are less likely to) protect it. Peter Liberman argues further that major powers have traded even when they viewed each other as large and imminent security threats. In the first section, I discuss different meanings of the term liberal international order and argue that the lack of an agreed upon meaning is a source of policy and analytic confusion. The defensive strand of realismbalance of threat theoryexplains alliances as states reactions to threats, which are determined not only by an adversary's power but also by the extent of its offensive capability and its intentions. The quotation appears in Wallace J. Thies, Friendly Rivals: Bargaining and Burden-Sharing in NATO (New York: M.E. UKEssays.com does not accept payment of any kind for the publishing of political content, it has been published for educational purposes only. Scholars have extensively theorized and studied the individual core elements of the LIO, including alliances, the open economic system, and the sovereignty norm, without viewing them as part of an integrated entity, the order. In effect, order is the result of an equipoise or equilibrium of power between the competing states. Ikenberry, Liberal Leviathan, p. 48. Thus, the economic interdependence and convergence arguments do apply. States give priority to increasing their prosperity, and trade can play a central role in achieving this end. Within a large literature, see, for example, John Lewis Gaddis, The Long Peace: Elements of Stability in the Postwar International System, International Security, Vol. A liberal perspective on the world has its strengths and weakness. 7791. 379408, doi.org/10.1162/002081899550913. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Most current internationalists focus principally on the role of institutions. The transition from mercantilism to free trade and the domestic move toward democracy presented an opportunity to overthrow that feudal legacy. On this basic conception, see Ikenberry, Liberal Leviathan, especially pp. The foundational work is Keohane, After Hegemony. More important, the LIO terminology clouds analysis of international policy by obscuring what is actually occurring. Liberal internationalists believe that humans by nature are good, or at least, not naturally aggressive. 49, No. Christian Tuschhoff, Alliance Cohesion and Peaceful Change in NATO, in Haftendorn, Keohane, and Wallander, Imperfect Unions, pp. 3 (September 2010), pp. Charles L. Glaser, Realists as Optimists: Cooperation as Self-Help, International Security, Vol. 1: Compare and contrast realist and liberal theories of international relations. Liberal internationalism has always been conjoined with a domestic reform agenda. Finally, the Soviet Union was largely excluded from the West's open markets and its financial system; thus, economic interdependence arguments do not apply. Discussing the strengths and weaknesses of each of these paradigms will help in determining which of these approaches is the most persuasive. Whether China's economic inclusion is a net positive for the United States remains an open question, but it certainly strengthens the economic pillar of the LIO. 1. 4 (Spring 2014), pp. Understand the definition of internationalism, see how liberalism applies to international relations, and learn its criticisms. Nevertheless, the structural relationship between the states is hierarchical, because the most powerful state disproportionately influences the terms of the agreement. Employing a grand-strategic framework should result in this more complete and transparent theoretical analysis.99.
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