Liberalism and Why It Should Be Promoted across Borders - Essay Example

Module Liberalism and Why It Should Be Promoted Across Borders Western countries have been associated with liberalism and as years progress, they have been forcing this ideology on other nations as evidently seen when they engaged countries like Afghanistan and Iraq in endless wars claiming to bring democracy. Liberalism has also been associated with economic ideas such as globalisation, which have also originated from the North America and Europe. Democracy is said to go hand in hand with liberalism and as the Western countries spread democracy, liberalism results from this exercise (Lynn-Jones, 1998). The questions asked are; is liberalism really a bad ideology that it has to be forced on other nations and how can the citizens of various nations benefit from liberalism? This paper supports the notion that liberalist states should promote their policies abroad but force should not be used as a legitimate instrument in securing these goals. Policy making was largely influenced by liberalists in the twentieth century. The liberalists influenced Public opinion and their liberal views were embraced as they gave the people hope for having free elections, religious freedom, free press, free markets, associational pluralism, free movement and many other associated benefits. However, with the First World War, liberal views subsided but after the Second World War, there was revival of liberal views marked by the establishment of United Nations. The cold war power politics extinguished liberalism again but in the 1990s; there was a beacon of hope as the Western countries announced the establishment of a new world order (Dunne 1). The leaders who came up with the new world order gave their justifications why the world should embrace liberalism over other ideologies but after the World Trade Centre was destroyed by a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, America seemed to abandon liberalism and embraced realism. The United States of America and its counterparts have attempted to solidify power around them and decided to seek vengeance among their perceived enemies and the nations that sympathize with them. The paper expounds on the matter, showing liberalism to be founded on temperateness, compromise, moderation, and peace while realists strive to introduce a common power in order to achieve progress, justice and law (Dunne 2). For a long period, liberalism has been utilized to depict abroad range of practices, ideas, movements, and parties in various societies. It was mainly used to oppose the systems of governance that were oppressive and denied the citizens some privileges. Liberalism was used as a force of liberation for the people to obtain free initiatives from existing governments. When used as a political philosophy, liberalism can either refer to individual rights shared by liberals or basic principles of constitutional authorities. Classical liberals advocated for liberty, the segmentation of political powers, economic freedom, rights to own property, freedom of speech and thoughts, independent civil societies and religious liberty. Egalitarian aspects have influenced modern democratic liberalism in addition to the other aspects that classical liberalists advocated for, thus social equality serving as the foundation of modern-day liberal politics (Starr 34). Liberalism can be defined in four dimensions, which look into its different aspects. Firstly, when relating to the law, all the citizens are equal, meaning that they are equally bound by the law and bear basic rights to religious toleration, education, and free press among other rights. Secondly, the legislative body of a nation can only exercise authority vested in it by the citizens and is not permitted to abuse their rights. Thirdly, an individual has the right to property ownership and productive forces. Fourthly, liberalism identifies the free, market driven economic exchange system as the most effective and disparages market systems that are controlled and regulated bureaucratically. When one considers these four dimensions, liberalism values display a clear picture of freedom, tolerance, constitutionalism and individualism, thus placing a higher measure on authority and order (Dunne 3). Liberalism as a political system seems more desirable than the Realists theories that are based on practical rather than moral or ideological considerations, which were mainly used in dictatorships and feudal systems. Liberalism brings optimism since it is basically built around individual liberties in addition to its efforts to advocate for world peace. When one puts into consideration the lush and unchecked growth of bloodshed and destruction that many states have undergone throughout the years, the logical political system to follow would be the one that advocates for peace and refrains from conflicts (Lynn-Jones 1998). However, history shows that liberal values have not been reinforced peacefully with the on-going Iraq war showing the extents that the Western countries would go to, in order to forcefully enforce the same values. The fact that the citizens being liberated have negative attitudes towards the means used in liberation show that force should not be employed in this exercise (Ackerly 547). Considering the benefits of liberalism, liberal states should promote liberalism across borders. The benefits associated with liberalism are discussed as follows Liberalism Leads To Liberty As aforementioned, liberalism promotes liberty, which is good for the citizens. In countries where there are under an oppressive regime, freedom of choice is rarely exercised since the authority demands the citizens to live in a certain way that will ensure that they do not question authority. Therefore, bringing liberalism to these states is important as the citizens will come out of the oppressive nature and enjoy the free will. Liberalism improves the lives of the citizens as it encourages individual liberty, right to own property, and freedom of speech and expression. As the citizens gain wealth after acquiring the right to own property, they come out of poverty, therefore, enjoying better lives. With liberalism, there are many human rights that are advocated for. These human rights can be violated in other oppressive regimes but with liberalism, the government has a duty to protect the rights of its citizens (Lynn-Jones 1998). Increased liberty is advantageous to the development of an individual. Increased liberty grants an individual prosperity since the spirit is able to prosper and because of that, greater artistic, intellectual and productive energy capabilities are unleashed, thereby profiting all mankind. All human beings have rights to freedom, to life, to the pursuit of happiness and to liberty. Individuals demand for more choices and liberty as the socioeconomic development rises. Denying them these rights leads to political systems that lean towards dictatorship and they soon collapse owing to economic and social failures (Mowle 563). Liberal Democracies Rarely Suffer From Civil Unrest Modern democratic liberalism advocates for a competitive electoral process that is free and fair. Leaders are elected by the citizens and their power comes from the people who voted them into the legislature. The liberty of individuals is respected using this feature that liberalism has accorded liberal politics. Liberalism advocates for free expression of political views and fee electoral choices. One important aspect about governments that are based on liberalism is the fact that they are more accountable to their citizens. Therefore, there is no violation of human rights and the political leaders are accountable for their actions. If the political leaders carry out unpopular activities against the people who voted for them, they can be ousted from office or the people can decline to vote for them again. This ensures that they act according to the interests of the people, which give the people more liberty (Cutts 20). Research shows that civil unrests or internal violence is very low and in many cases absent especially in liberal democracies. The research also shows that authoritarian governments have a significant percentage of civil unrest while totalitarian governments had the highest percentage of civil unrest (Cutts 20). The latter regimes have been infamous for human rights violation of great extents such as mass murders and genocides. Take the example of Rwanda, a country in Africa where there are totalitarian governments. The Rwanda genocide was carried out in an authoritarian government as the leaders sought to eliminate all the people opposing the government. Other states that have been involved in mass murders and the death of millions of citizens were at the time of the atrocities under authoritarian or totalitarian regimes. Some examples include; Nationalist China, Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, the Soviet Union, and the People’s Republic of China (Lynn-Jones 1998). Absence of civil unrests and aggravated internal violence in liberal democracies can be attributed to three reasons. The first one is; liberal democratic governments have political systems whose powers are limited by their constitutions thus lowering the possibility of committing mass murders on their citizens. Authoritarian and totalitarian regimes are freer to exercise powers and since their power is centralized to the political elite, oppression and murder can be committed with few consequences following the atrocities (Plattner 124). The second reason why there is absence of civil unrest is; liberal democracies allow free expression of political views and this means that in the political system, there is an opposing party that corrects and criticizes the government. The opposition can express their views openly, therefore, limiting the government’s ability to carry out atrocities. The opposition only needs to voice the government’s intentions and gather support from the citizens so as to stop some activities from taking place (Lynn-Jones 1998). Thirdly, Liberalism also allows for free press, which is actively involved in showcasing and voicing activities that are on-going in a particular liberal country. The government would not engage in mass murders or support conflicts that would lead to genocides since the press would warn the international community (Lynn-Jones 1998). Liberalism could be attributed to the creation of the International Criminal Court located at The Hague. Leaders are afraid of being tried internationally for the atrocities committed in their countries, therefore, they would not allow mass murders in their countries as they would lead to indictment (Mowle 563). Liberalism Improves the Economy Liberalism promotes ideologies that can drive a country’s economy to prosperity and maintain that state for many years once they are implemented. Liberalism does not literally translate to prosperity but it is the policies that come with it, the governance and the ideologies that bring economic success. This is why some liberal democracies like India only gained economic success after years of economic suffering. In the long run, liberal countries prosper. Authoritarian regimes also record successful economic growth but it is short-lived since the countries cannot sustain it. Take for an example the Soviet Union, which enjoyed growth and development that exceeded that of America’s but later came crumbling. Experts also believe that China’s growth that is being experienced currently will decline with time. This can be attributed to disintegration of political and economic blocks which lead to political fragmentation. Unlike the liberal states, authoritarian regimes’ prosperity benefits the elite, therefore, leading the citizens to begin resisting over growing inequality and high costs of living. The strains and tensions caused by increased economic growth in China will induce political fragmentation resulting to the collapse of the economy (Lynn-Jones 1998). There are various reasons as to why countries that have adopted liberalism have prospering economies. Firstly, liberalism advocates for market economies so the liberal democracies possess this kind of economic markets that tend to bring economic growth. Market economies are the world leading economies owing to excellent economic performance and economic liberalization. Liberal economic policies lead to economic freedom, which promotes economic growth. Countries that have been found to be ‘free’ economically, record high economic growth compared to countries that do not adapt these systems. Some authoritarian countries that have adopted free markets also have indicated economic growth despite their political system mode (Mowle 577). Secondly, liberalism provides principles that ensure a nation’s economy is laid on a stable ground, which leads to economic that extends over a long period. Investors are attracted to free markets and countries where they one can invest without the risk of expropriation. Other liberal ideas such as impartial court systems, respect for individual rights and private property, free and fair elections are conditions that attract investors. The fact that liberalism promotes globalization is also a big factor when it comes to the economic growth of a state. Therefore, liberalism is primal when establishing and maintaining long-term economic growth. Some of the benefits associated with economic growth stemming from liberalism are the rise in the living standards of the citizens, better medical covers, improved infrastructure and social amenities, better education, high purchasing power and many others (Plattner 125). The likeliness of famines and starvation would be reduced since economically empowered nations can afford to feed their populations. They have food security. Liberalism Promotes Better International Relations Liberalism has been associated with many benefits from individual rights to economic growth. In addition to all the benefits, liberalism promotes peace, therefore, indicating the need for better relationship between different states. In the past, some scholars thought that free trade would promote peace but after the Nazi Germany went into war with Britain, despite being trade partners, the theory was refuted. Liberal democracies rarely wage war against each other. Although liberal democracies could enter into war with non-democracies, the feud would not last long as the other liberal democracies would intervene to ensure peace. As one state adopts liberalism, the zone of peace adds its borders. Liberalism also promotes globalization, which promotes world peace. As two countries trade, they foster peace so that they can benefit from each other’s business ventures (Drezner 2007). CONCLUSION With all the benefits emanating from liberalism, this paper supports the fact that liberal states should indeed promote their policies abroad. There are so many people living in countries that have non-beneficial regimes, which oppress and deny them their rights. Liberalism started as a revolution owing to oppression and with time the people still living in such political systems will rise and demand for liberation. To prevent similar revolutions, the countries’ leaders should gradually adopt liberalism in order to improve the lives of their citizens. The liberal states should promote their ideas across borders and should another state agree to enforce them, they should assist in the process. However, using force as a means of implementing liberalism ideologies will only make the citizens shun them. In the case where a country violates human rights to an extreme level, the United Nations should intervene but not individual liberal states (Cutts 17). This is the case Iraq and Afghanistan as they were invaded by the United States of America. This should not have been the case because it only leads to more bloodshed and refusal to adopt the methods introduced. Works Cited Ackerly, Brooke. A. "Is Liberalism The Only Way Toward Democracy?: Confucianism And Democracy." Political Theory 33.4 (2005): 547-576. Print. Cutts, David. "Yet another False Dawn? An Examination of the Liberal Democrats' Performance in the 2010 General Election." The British Journal of Politics & International Relations 1 (2011): 17-20. Print. Drezner, Daniel W. All Politics Is Global: Explaining International Regulatory Regimes Princeton. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2007. Dunne, Tim “Core ideas in liberal thinking on international relations” (2011): 1-12. Lynn-Jones, Sean. "Why the United States Should Spread Democracy." Why the United States Should Spread Democracy. 1998. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. http://belfercenter.hks.harvard.edu/publication/2830/why_the_united_states_should_spread_democracy.html Mowle, Thomas S. "Worldviews in Foreign Policy: Realism, Liberalism, and External Conflict." Political Psychology 24.3 (2003): 561-592. Print. Plattner, Marc F. "From Liberalism to Liberal Democracy." Journal of Democracy 10.3 (1999): 121-134. Print. Starr, Paul. Freedom's Power: The True Force of Liberalism. New York: Basic Books, 2007. Print. Read More