What is Liberal Internationalism?
Liberal internationalism is a set of ideas about how states should relate to one another. It holds that international politics does not have to be a constant struggle for power. Instead, its supporters argue, peace and prosperity can grow through trade, shared rules, international organizations and the spread of democratic government. They see force as a last resort and prefer diplomacy, treaties and alliances. The tradition shaped the League of Nations after the First World War and the United Nations and other institutions after the Second World War. It is often contrasted with political realism, which stresses power and national interest.
Core beliefs
- States can cooperate for mutual benefit rather than only compete for power.
- Free trade creates interdependence that makes war more costly and less likely.
- International law and organizations should regulate relations between states.
- Democracies tend to be more peaceful, at least toward one another.
- Collective security means that aggression against one state concerns all.
- Human rights are a legitimate concern of the international community.
History
Immanuel Kant's essay Perpetual Peace (1795) proposed a federation of free states governed by law. In the nineteenth century, the British free traders Richard Cobden and John Bright argued that commerce would bind nations together and reduce war. In The Great Illusion (1910), Norman Angell argued that war between industrial nations no longer paid. After the First World War, US President Woodrow Wilson set out his Fourteen Points in 1918, including a general association of nations. The League of Nations was founded in 1920, though the US Senate declined to join. During the Second World War, the Atlantic Charter of 1941 and the Bretton Woods conference of 1944 laid plans for a new order. The United Nations was founded in 1945, followed by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in 1947 and NATO in 1949. After the Cold War, the tradition saw a revival, including the creation of the World Trade Organization in 1995.
Variants
Commercial liberals stress trade and economic interdependence. Institutional liberals, sometimes called liberal institutionalists, focus on how international organizations help states cooperate. Republican or democratic peace liberals stress the spread of democracy. Liberal interventionists argue that force may be used to stop atrocities, an idea reflected in the Responsibility to Protect principle endorsed at the UN in 2005. More cautious liberal internationalists emphasize multilateral rules and restraint.
Criticisms
Realists argue that liberal internationalism is utopian, because it underestimates power, national interest and the absence of a world government. Some critics on the left argue that the liberal order has mainly served the interests of powerful Western states and global capital. Nationalist and populist critics argue that international institutions reduce national sovereignty and democratic control. Debates over interventions such as Kosovo in 1999, Iraq in 2003 and Libya in 2011 have divided liberal internationalists themselves.
In practice
The tradition shaped the League of Nations, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization and the European Union. Many democracies describe their foreign policy in terms of supporting a rules-based international order, multilateral trade and human rights. Its supporters point to decades without war between major powers since 1945, while critics dispute how much credit the institutions deserve.