Liberalism and Institutions

Introduction to International Relations

Lecture, 13 October 2014
Dr Felix Berenskoetter

1. Liberalism as Political Philosophy

Core Principles of Liberalism

Individual freedom
Moral autonomy
Reason / rationality
Equality
Rights
Progress
Universalism / optimism

Moral philosophy with political/economic dimension

and emphasis on (potential for) self-determination
Key thinkers: Locke, Bentham, Smith, Schumpeter, Kant

Liberalism as a theory about

human ability to (use) reason
Men

living together according to reason...is properly the

state of nature
[Locke: Two Treatises on Government, 1664]

Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed

immaturity...Sapere Aude! [dare to know] Have courage
to use your own understanding!--that is the motto of
enlightenment
[Kant: What Is Enlightenment?, 1784]

Liberalism as a theory of law

The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve
and enlarge freedom (John Locke)
Isaiah Berlin makes distinction between
Negative Liberty: rights ensuring freedom from oppression
Positive Liberty: rights enabling self-realisation
Institutions needed to establish / protect those rights

Liberalism as a theory
of political and economic order
Political theory of the minimalist state with institutions
(rule based order) protecting/promoting individual liberty
Nightwatchman state
Economic theory of free markets stressing benefits of
unconstrained exchange (Invisible Hand idea, Smith)
laissez-faire liberalism
Contrasted with theories of strong/centralised state
(authoritarianism) and orders tailored to support
collective ( socialism, communism)

2. Liberalism as IR Theory
Challenging realist billiard balls image
of international relations

Challenging Realism I
Aim: Showing possibilities for cooperation/taming anarchy;
Explaining peace beyond balance of power
Argument: Domestic politics (regimes, actors) affect
interaction and can enhance trust between states
Regime type matters (opening black box of the state)
Democratic Peace Argument (Doyle)
Effect of transnational links
Security Communities (Deutsch, Burton)

John Burtons image of the international

system (world society) as a Cobweb

Challenging Realism II
Aim: Showing possibilities for cooperation/taming anarchy;
Explaining impact of economic dependency
Argument: International Institutions (regimes) manage
interaction between rational states and enhance trust
Effect of economic interdependence
Creates vulnerabilities even for great powers, but is also
mutually beneficial (Keohane and Nye, 1979)
International Institutions reduce uncertainty and provide
legitimacy for actions that conform to shared rules
Extended cooperation under anarchy possible (Krasner
1983, Keohane 1984)

International Institution: Structure or Actor?

Institutions as persistent and connected set of rules
(formal or informal) that prescribe behavioral roles,
constrain activity, and shape expectations (Keohane)
International institution as a structure situated inbetween states with dual effect of:
Enabling action (of member states)
Constraining action (of member states)
Perhaps even an independent political actor?

Challenging Realism III

Aim: Showing possibilities for cooperation/taming anarchy;
Explaining dynamics of integration
Argument: Increase in transnational linkages has
transformative effects on international relations (lead by
functional benefits and socialisation processes)
Spill Over effects from economic to political order
Regional Integration (Mitrany, Haas, Deutsch)
Dissolution of borders and emergence of new actors
Globalisation / Global Governance (Held et al.)

Liberalism as the Winners Formula

Fukuyama declared end of the Cold War as the end of
history: the endpoint of mankinds ideological evolution
and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as
the final form of human government
(Fukuyama: The End of History?, 1989)

The crisis of liberal [international] order is a crisis of

success
(Ikenberry: Liberal Internationalism 3.0, 2009)
The perfect model?

Critique of (Neo)Liberalism
as an analytical theory and a belief system
Realists: liberal optimism is still utopianism
Tension between highlighting role of non-state actors
and continued state-centrism
Tension between analytical and normative ambitions
Ethical dilemmas for actors promoting liberalism
Interventionist agenda (imperial logic of liberalism)
Double standard
Disillusionment due to unfulfilled promises
The financial crisis will change the world as fundamentally as did the fall of
the Berlin Wall (German Minister of Finance, 22 November 2009)