Introduction to Liberalism

1
Introduction to Liberalism

• Lecture 8

2
War in the Contemporary State System

• The Culture of Death.
• Boutros Boutros-Ghali
• (Former Secretary-General of the UN)

3
How Frequent?

• Each year between 1945 and 1988 9 wars with more
  than 100,000 killed were in progress

4
What Type of War?

• 1989-1998
• 192 Nation States in existence (average)
• 107 civil wars were begun in this period
• 10 of these civil wars were internationalized
• In 1999, 31 wars underway

5
Where in the World?

• 9 out of every 10 wars take place in the
  Developing World

6
Wars in Progress, April 2002
Africa Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Dem. Republic of Congo, Sudan, Somalia
South Asia Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, India, Burma, Indonesia, Philippines
Middle East Algeria, Turkey, Iraq, Israel-Palestine
Russia-E. Europe Tajikistan/Kyrgyzstan, Russia (Chechnya), Georgia
Latin America Colombia, Peru
No. America, Western Europe, Japan/Pacific None
Source Joshua Goldstein. 2003. International
Relations, 5th edition (New York Longman), page
211.
7
Question of the Month

• Peace and Stability in the Advanced
  Industrialized World.
• War and Instability in Much of the Developing
  World.
• Why?

8
Liberalism and International Politics

• Liberalism A Global Society Can Produce Peace
  in International Politics.
• Liberal Theories of International Politics Have
  their Roots in Classical Political Theory
• Particularly Important is Immanuel Kants Essay
  Perpetual Peace (1795)
• (also John Locke, Hugo Grotius Adam Smith
  Richard Cobden Woodrow Wilson).

• Central Beliefs
• Humans Are Corrupted By SocietyNo Such Thing as
  an Inherently Bad Person or an Inherently
  Aggressive Country.
• Anarchy is the Corruptive Force in International
  Politics.
• Humans Can Improve their Condition By Reforming
  Political Institutions.
• Countries Can Make War Less Likely By Reducing
  Corruptive Force of Anarchy.

9
The 3 Pillars of Liberalism in International
Politics

• Democracy
• Economic Interdependence
• International Institutions

10
The Democratic Peace Democracies Do Not Fight
Wars Against Other Democracies.

• Cultural and Norm-Based Explanations
• Practice of Peaceful Conflict Resolution Within
  Democracies Spills into Relations Between
  Democracies.
• Respect Right of Self-Determination, Cultural
  Constraints Against Violence.

• Institution-Based Explanations
• Elections and Other Checks and Balances Make
  Governments in Democratic Societies Less Able to
  Use Force.
• To Use Force, Govt Must Persuade
• Legislature
• Bureaucracy
• Public Opinion
• Constraints Make it Difficult to Use Force
  Against Democracies

11
Economic Interdependence

• International Trade and Investment Creates a High
  Level of Economic Interdependence.
• Economic Interdependence Causes Governments To
  Redefine their Interests in a Way that Makes War
  Less Likely.
• Too Busy Making Money to Fight
• War Too Costly in Economic Disruption
• The Greater is Economic Interdependence, the Less
  Likely is War.
• Economic Interdependence or Prosperity?

12
International Institutions

• Provide Political Framework for Peaceful
  Resolution of Conflict.
• Collective Rule Enforcement
• Alter Governments Interests
• Make Them Less Insecure
• Make Them Less Prone to Militarize Disputes
• Can Provide Information About Government
  Behavior.

13
Three Interwoven Strands

• The Three Pillars are Complements, not
  Alternatives.
• A Global Society Can Emerge From a Dense Network
  of Economic Relationships Among Democratic
  Governments that Interact Within a Heavily
  Institutionalized International System.
• This Global Society Makes War Less Likely by
• Providing Fewer Reasons to Fight
• Raising the Cost of Fighting
• Providing Alternative Means for Conflict
  Resolution.

14
Liberalism and Life in the West

• All Countries are Democratic.
• A High Degree of Economic Integration and
  Prosperity. (Average Income is 26,440)
• Interaction Among these Countries Takes Place in
  Highly Institutionalized International
  Environment.
• A Liberal Peace?

15
Liberalism and Life in the Rest of the World

• Non-Democratic or, where Democratic, New
  Democracies.
• Less Economic Integration, More Poverty. (Average
  Income Ranges from 420 to 4,870)
• Interactions Take Place Within Weak Political
  Institutions, International and Domestic.
• Lots of War.

16
A Roadmap

• The Tragedy of International Politics the
  Liberal Vision.
• The Role of International Organizations
• Making Sense of Peace in the West Realists
  versus Liberals.
• Making Sense of War in the Rest of the World
• Ethnic Conflict
• Focus on Africa
• Can anything be done?