• The central issues that the liberalism seeks to address are the problems of achieving

lasting peace and cooperation in international relations, and the various methods that could
contribute to their achievement.
• Its roots lie in the broader liberal thought originating in the Enlightenment
• Liberalism emphasizes that the broad ties among states have both made it difficult to
define national interest and decreased the usefulness of military power.
• Increasing globalization, the rapid rise in communications technology, and the increase in
international trade in 1970s meant that states could no longer rely on simple power politics
to decide matters.
• Liberal approaches to international relations are also called ‘theories of complex
interdependence’

Liberalism claims
• The world is a harsh and dangerous place, but the consequences of using military power
often outweigh the benefits. International cooperation is therefore in the interest of every
state.
• Military power is not the only form of power. Economic and social power matter a great
deal too. Exercising economic power has proven more effective than exercising military
power.
• Different states often have different primary interests.
• International rules and organizations can help foster cooperation, trust, and prosperity.

Example: Relations among the major Western powers fit a model of complex
interdependence very well. The United States has significant disagreements with its
European and Asian allies over trade and policy, but it is hard to imagine a circumstance in
which the United States would use military power against any of these allies. Instead, the
United States relies on economic pressure and incentives to achieve its policy aims.
Origin:
Generally, its roots lie in the broader liberal thought originating in the age of Enlightenment.
More importantly, catalytic events in the early 2 decades of 20th century caused
paradigmatic revolution in the field of International Relations.

a. 1st World War: The total number of military and civilian casualties in World War I was over
37 million: over 17 million deaths and 20 million wounded, ranking it among the deadliest
conflicts in human history.
b. Bolshevik Revolution-1917 in Russia:

Marxist-Leninist thought became popular

The revolution was bloody, brutal and cruel. No exact figure of casualties however, millions
of people were put to death.
c. Nazism of Hitler: usually characterized as offshoot of Fascism. It instrumentalize racism.

Liberal World View:

• It emphasizes on behavior, dignity and liberty of Individuals. According to idealist humans
are good by nature. Therefore, people should be treated as ends rather than means.
• It stresses the importance of ethical principles over pursuit of power and institutions over
capabilities as forces of shaping interstate relation.
• Liberalists view politics as a struggle for consensus than a struggle for power and
prestige.

Fundamental Principles of Liberalism

Liberal idealism is based on the following assumptions;
1. Human nature is essentially good or altruistic: People are capable of mutual aid and
collaboration through reason and ethically inspired education.
2. The fundamental human concern for others’ welfare makes progress possible.
3. Bad human behavior, such as violence, is the product not of flawed people but of evil
institutions that encourage people to act selfishly and to harm others.
4. War and international anarchy are not inevitable and war’s frequency can be reduced by
strengthening the institutional arrangements that encourage its disappearance.
5. War is a global problem requiring collective or multilateral, rather than national, efforts to
control it.
6. Reforms must be inspired by a compassionate ethical concern for the welfare and security
of all people, and this humanitarian motive requires the inclusion of morality in statecraft.
7. International society must reorganize itself in order to eliminate the institutions that make
war likely, and states must reform their political systems so that self-determination and
democratic governance within states can help pacify relations among states.

The Reform Programme of Liberals

Several voices within liberalism suggesting respective institutional reforms to establish
world peace;
1. The collective security: Collective security refers to an arrangement where ‘each state
in the system accepts that the security of one is the concern of all, and agrees to join in a
collective response to aggression’

Woodrow Wilson’s Speech: In his famous ‘Fourteen Points’ speech, addressed to

Congress in January 1918, Wilson argued that ‘a general association of nations must be
formed’ to preserve the peace.
2. Legislative Approach: Disputes among states should be dealt through International
law.

The Kellogg–Briand Pact- 1928: Signatory states promised not to use war to resolve
"disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise
among them
3. International Court of Justice: to arbitrate international disputes
4. Disarmament: the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons

Nuclear Disarmament: the act of reducing or eliminating nuclear weapons and to the end
state of a nuclear-free world, in which nuclear weapons are completely eliminated.
Several conferences have been held to reduce arms e.g., 1932-34: World Disarmament
Conference
5. Self Determination: In his Fourteen Points, U.S. president Woodrow Wilson listed self- is
possible that there is no term more abused in modern political discourse than "liberalism."
Originally meant to describe the ideology of free trade and limited government, the anti-
capitalist left adopted the term in the 1930s and changed its meaning to the opposite of
what it meant in the 19th century.
Liberalism never quite lost its correct meaning in most of the world, however, and in
Spanish-speaking countries, for example, the word "liberalismo" still often means the
ideology of free trade and free markets. Only American right-wingers appear to use the term
as a pejorative to sling at the anti-capitalist left. Even in America, though, with the left
having eschewed the term for the more trendy "progressive," the use of "liberalism" in
political invective appears to be fading.
Liberalism is a school of thought within international relations theory which can be thought to
revolve around three interrelated principles:

 Rejection of power politics as the only possible outcome of international relations; it questions
security/warfare principles of realism
 It accentuates mutual benefits and international cooperation
 It implements international organizations and nongovernmental actors for shaping state
preferences and policy choices[1]
This school of thought emphasizes three factors that encourage more cooperation and less conflict
among states:

 International institutions, such as the United Nations, who provide a forum to resolve disputes in
a non-violent way
 International trade because when countries' economies are interconnected through trade they
are less likely to go to war with each other
 Spread of democracy as well-established democracies do not go to war with one another, so if
there are more democracies, interstate war will be less frequent
 Liberals believe that international institutions play a key role in cooperation among states.
[2]
With the correct international institutions, and increasing interdependence (including
economic and cultural exchanges) states have the opportunity to reduce conflict.
[3]
Interdependence has three main components. States interact in various ways, through
economic, financial, and cultural means; security tends to not be the primary goal in state-to-
state interactions; and military forces are not typically used.[2] Liberals also argue that
international diplomacy can be a very effective way to get states to interact with each other
honestly and support nonviolent solutions to problems.[4] With the proper institutions and
diplomacy, Liberals believe that states can work together to maximize prosperity and
minimize conflict.[5]
 Liberalism is one of the main schools of international relations theory. Liberalism comes from
the Latin liber meaning "free", referred originally to the philosophy of freedom.[6] Its roots lie in
the broader liberal thought originating in the Enlightenment. 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 to their
achievement.
 Supporters of liberalism often believe in the spreading of democracy through cooperation.

Areas of study[edit]
Broad areas of study within liberal international relations theory include:

 The democratic peace theory, and, more broadly, the effect of domestic political regime
types and domestic politics on international relations;[7][8]
 The commercial peace theory, arguing that free trade has pacifying effects on international
relations. Current explorations of globalization and interdependence are a broader continuation
of this line of inquiry;
 Institutional peace theory, which attempts to demonstrate how cooperation can be sustained
in anarchy, how long-term interests can be pursued over short-term interests, and how actors
may realize absolute gains instead of seeking relative gains;
 Related, the effect of international organizations on international politics, both in their role as
forums for states to pursue their interests, and in their role as actors in their own right;
 The role of international law in moderating or constraining state behavior;
 The effects of liberal norms on international politics, especially relations between liberal states;
 The role of various types of unions in international politics (relations), such as highly
institutionalized alliances (e.g. NATO), confederations, leagues, federations, and evolving
entities like the European Union; and,
 The role, or potential role, of cosmopolitanism in transcending the state and affecting
international relations.

History[edit]
Early beginnings
It was later in the 17th and 18th centuries in which political liberalism began to take form that
challenged nobility and inherited equality.[9] Followed shortly after was the Enlightenment where
liberal ideals began to develop with works by philosophers such as Voltaire, Locke, Smith, and
German thinker Immanuel Kant. In part, liberal scholars were influenced by the Thirty Years' War
and the Enlightenment.[10] The length and disastrous effects of the Thirty Years' War caused a
common disdain for warfare throughout much of Europe. Thinkers, like Locke and Kant, wrote about
what they saw in the world around them. They believed that war is fundamentally unpopular and that
man is born with certain rights because the end of the Thirty Years' War proved these ideas to them.
John Locke discusses many ideas that are now attributed to Liberalism in Two Treatises of
Government,[11] published in 1689. In his second treatise, Locke comments on society and outlines
the importance of natural rights and laws. Locke believes that people are born as blank slates
without any preordained ideas or notions. This state is known as the State of Nature because it
shows people in their most barbaric form. As people grow, their experiences begin to shape their
thoughts and actions. They are naturally in the State of Nature until they choose not to be, until
something changes their barbaric nature. Locke says that, civil government can remedy this
anarchy.[12] When it comes to the Law of Nature, people are more likely to act rationally when there is
a government in place because there are laws and consequences to abide by. Locke argues that
civil government can help people gain the basic human rights of health, liberty and possession.
[12]
Governments that grant these rights and enforce laws benefit the world. Many of these ideas have
influenced leaders such as the Founding Father's during the American Revolution and French
revolutionaries during the French Revolution.[13]
In Kant’s To Perpetual Peace,[14] the philosopher set the way by forming guidelines to create a
peace program to be applied by nations. This program would require cooperation between states as
well as the mutual pursuit of secure freedom and shared benefits.[15] One such idea was the
Democratic Peace Theory.[16] In To Perpetual Peace, Kant put forth the idea that democracies do not
fight wars because leaders were too worried about re-election. Because war was naturally
unpopular, Kant thought that leaders would avoid burdening voters with its costs. After seeing
success in intertwining states through economic coalition, liberal supporters began to believe that
warfare was not always an inevitable part of IR.[17] Support of liberal political theory continued to grow
from there.

Neoliberalism[edit]
Kant's democratic peace theory has since been revised by neoliberals like Robert O.
Keohane and Joseph S. Nye. These theorists have seen that democracies do in fact fight wars.
However, democracies do not fight wars with other democracies because of capitalist ties.
Democracies are economically dependent and therefore are more likely to resolve issues
diplomatically. Furthermore, citizens in democracies are less likely to think of citizens in other
democracies as enemies because of shared morals.[18] Kant's original ideas have influenced liberalist
scholars and have had a large impact on liberal thought.

3) Assumptions: Kegley’s

I. Human nature:

II. Bad human behaviour: evilness of institutions and structural arrangements which make human
selfish.

III. Worst feature of international politics ‘The War’:

IV. War can be eliminated:

V. Role of international society:

4) Criticism:

I. Adaptation of moral principles: reality is material.

II. Behaviour of states: diplomatic tricks and systematic relations, not moral.

III. Utopian approach:

IV. Formation of world government:

V. Disarmament:

VI. Ignorance of past:

VII. One sided theory:

VIII. Situation of power politics:

Liberalism and neoliberalism

Difference:
Neoliberalism is more about laissez faire economics, so economically it
is very similar to classical liberalism.

Neoliberalism is like a modern take on classical liberalism; but it

focuses on the markets. This means it is about deregulation, ending
protectionism, and freeing up the markets.

While classical liberalism is more of a political philosophy,

neoliberalism bases its ideas on neoclassical economics, so it is really a
set of ideas for how a free market, as advocated by classical liberalism,
can be achieved and maintained.

neoLiberalism and neorealism

:lthough differences between #eorealism and #eoliberalism exist, based on the claim that theystudy
different worlds", i.e. military security versus the global political economy, the similaritiesbetween
them prevail (Lamy 0)+-)8. %oth theories share the same positivist!rationalepistemology, based
on the belief of an external and rational reality independent from theobserver, which can be understood
value!free. :dditionally, they also share commonassumptions such as the existence of anarchy and its
implications for state behaviour, i.e. asituation of self!help where states seek to maximi4e security.
<ower, whether absolute or relative, is seen by both theories in terms of material capabilities, regardless
of the meaningattached to them (=opf )**8-)99. The effects of material capabilities on states"
behaviour isthus explicit, as rational actors evaluate the distribution of capabilities effectively and act
inconse>uence.

Liberalism and contructivism