Liberalism




Liberalism
Liberalism is one of the main perspectives of international relations theory that takes protecting and enhancing the freedom of the individual to be the central problem of politics. Liberalist typically believes that government is necessary to protect individuals from being harmed by others; but they also recognize that government itself can pose a threat to liberty.
The theory of classic liberalism is most directly traceable to John Locke, the French philosopher Voltaire and American founding father Thomas Paine who believed in the following idea that if you just give people as much freedom and liberty as possible, authoritarian political patterns would disappear, democracies would flourish, wars would never be fought, and world peace and prosperity would surely follow. 
Liberal international relations theories are based on the idea that humans are perfectible.  In contrast to the greedy man of realism or even the survival man of realism, liberal theories tend to see man as rational as well as learning, striving, and improving over time. The central issues that it seeks to address are the problems of achieving lasting peace and cooperation in international relations, and the various methods that could contribute their achievement.
In easy way, we can conclude that where realists see competition and conflict, liberals see opportunities for cooperation. This is particularly so in their defense of international law, economic cooperation, and the spread of democracy as the most important mechanisms for building world peace. Liberalism has a close but sometimes uneasy relationship with democracy. At the centre of democratic doctrine is the belief that governments derive their authority from popular election; liberalism, on the other hand, is primarily concerned with the scope of governmental activity. Liberals often have been wary of democracy, then, because of fears that it might generate a tyranny by the majority. One might briskly say, therefore, that democracy looks after majorities and liberalism after unpopular minorities.

Liberalism is the first major body of international political theory to focus explicitly on the problem of war and peace with the goal of implementing sufficient reforms to end war and create a democratic world peace. In its neoliberal and trade-oriented variants, liberalism offers a powerful but still traditional body of theory that allows for the analysis of non-state actors like corporations and social movements. Liberalism also holds that interaction between states is not limited to the political/security ("high politics"), but also economic/cultural ("low politics") whether through commercial firms, organizations or individuals. Thus, instead of an anarchic international system, there are plenty of opportunities for cooperation and broader notions of power, such as cultural capital

            Liberalism holds that state preferences, rather than state capabilities, are the primary determinant of state behavior. Unlike realism, where the state is seen as a unitary actor, liberalism allows for plurality in state actions. Thus, preferences will vary from state to state, depending on factors such as culture, economic system or government type. In the matter of international relations, liberalist believe that a state's foreign policy is not determined entirely by the international system around it, but rather by its own internal order. So basically liberalist believe that a natural harmony of interests will ensure people and states make rational calculations which make national interest and international interest one and the same and if disputes occur, they should be settled by established judicial procedures under the rule of law. peace as seen as by the liberalist is a preferred condition and therefore ways should be found to foster peace among states.  This allows man to focus on the substantive things that make up the good life: food, art, culture, literature, farming, families. Everything but weapons and the fighting of war.
            Critics of liberalism (and there have been many) generally zero in on the ambivalence in almost all liberal theories over coming to terms with the use of force (for exactly what reasons and for what ends). More radical scholars argue that liberalism ignores the frequently violent foreign policies of imperial democracies (like the British Empire and, arguably, the current United States), as well as the limitations of concepts like "human rights," which are merely Western rather than truly universal. Other critics challenge the spirit of moral omnipotence and self-righteousness that is prevalent in much liberal thinking Critics of liberalism (and there have been many) generally zero in on the ambivalence in almost all liberal theories over coming to terms with the use of force. At the same time, critics allege that liberalism suffers from theoretical incoherence and a Western-centric perspective. Realists argue that liberals are naive to think that world peace is achievable, and wrong to include corporations and international organizations as important actors in international politics.

References :
  • Burchill, et al. eds. Theories of International Relations, 3rd edition, Palgrave 2005
    • liberalism 2012. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 21 March, 2012, from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/339173/liberalism
    • AN OVERVIEW OF THE FIELD OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 2012. Criminal Justice Mega Links. Retrieved 21 March, 2012, from http://www.drtomoconnor.com/3040/3040lect02a.htm
    • Idealism And Liberalism: International Relations Theory in Brief 2012.AndrewVogt. Retrieved 21 March, 2012, from http://www.bukisa.com/articles/335689_idealism-and-liberalism-international-relations-theory-in-brief



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