Basic ideas and Principles behind Liberal Internationalism - Essay Example

Liberal Internationalism Name: Unit: Course: Professor: Liberal Internationalism Liberal Internationalism is a group of related ideas and concepts that describes the best policies to be used in order to organize international relations of states and non- state actors that believe in international progress, diplomacy, independence and give support to international political organizations and structures. Throughout the history of international relations, there has been a world full of anarchy where every person acts for themselves especially by use of might. It has been a world where unethical and immoral behavior like killing is often justified by the end results. International relations is trying to come up with ways on how to stop and bring order to the world of anarchy and as a result, liberal internationalism is able to offer a justified solution. According to liberals, globalization is the general condition of world politics. Basic ideas and Principles behind Liberal Internationalism The main idea of liberal internationalism according to political theorists is the importance of moral freedom. It involves the right to be treated fairly and a responsibility to treat other citizens as ethical subjects and not as objects. Through sharing of commitment to other essential institutions, liberism stressed that citizens were entitled to juridical equality and civic rights like freedom of the press and religion (Richardson, 2007 p14). Another idea of liberal internationalism was that the competent sovereigns of the state were to be representative legislatures deriving their power from the approval of the electorate and inflicting their authority free from all restraint as long as the civic basic rights are preserved. Another idea represented by liberalism illustrated how the economy should recognize the rights of private property. Liberal internationalism shows that individual acquisition, social utility or social agreement justifies property ownership but it excludes state capitalism and state socialism but not market socialism. Another basic idea presented by Liberal Internationalism is the economic decisions. Economic decisions are free from bureaucracy control and are shaped by forces that involve supply and demand (Richardson, 2007 p21). Immanuel Kant and Giuseppe Mazzini are liberal republicans who conceptualized internationalism as an institute of peace amongst fellow liberal republicans. The tradition of liberal republican argues that in liberal democracy, the states are at peace with each other but they leave international legacy on foreign affairs. John Locke, one of the greatest founder of modern liberal individualism argued that the liberal foundations of international law have been provided by the states after deriving rights from individual rights (Richardson, 2007 p23). In the 20th century, Dean V. Babst (1972) was the first to come up with a statistical report for a hypothesis of Clarence Streit (1938) who pointed out the idea of liberal democracies maintaining peace among themselves. In his second article of Perpetual Peace, Kant foresaw an establishment of peace amongst the liberal republicans through the means of pacific union. According to Kant, all statesmen and liberal republicans should strongly reject international aggression and imperialism on moral grounds (Richardson, 2007 p29). Kant and other great thinkers of international liberism had one thing in common, they all wanted to create motivation techniques for liberal states to promote peace and try with great effort to avert war. They argued that people were mostly driven by self-preservation and their instincts for survival and such existence was to be eradicated but the only way was through the formation of a common supreme power. This supreme power would be able to arbitrate between human desires that compete against themselves. In world politics today, liberism is believed to have given rise to feminism. Mary Wollstonecraft a British philosopher, is believed to be one of the greatest pioneer of liberal feminism by vindicating the rights of a woman in 1792. She included women in the political structure by expanding the boundaries that surrounded liberalism. This idea has paved way for many women to openly contest for various political seats in the modern world. In the current political world, Liberal socialism which is a socialist political philosophy has made social ideas and socialist parties to retain its political force with varying influence and degrees of power on all continents. The League of Nations and the United Nations The foundation for the League of Nations was laid down after the First World War by the President of the United States of America, Woodrow Wilson. The idea of liberal gesture by President Woodrow came from the concept of perpetual peace which was in Kant’s three articles (Richardson, 2007 p32). The first article of Kant stressed that the essential freedom of citizens must be safeguarded by the constitution of a particular country. The second article emphasized on the pacific union and the alliance that involved liberal states which Kant called a treaty between the nations and themselves. The third article on the other hand, called on the states of the pacific union to be gentle to visitors and civilians from other countries and treat them with respect and dignity and this was later known as the Cosmopolitan Law. The main objective of the League of Nations was to promote peace amongst the Nations and States but it failed to do so. Despite failing to deliver on promises of peace and criticism, Richardson (2007 p34) illustrates that the League of Nations reformed a doctrine to shape Liberal Internationalism. The league of Nations and the attack on it is seen from two separate views. First, the league is supposed to portray a denial of nationalism and the supporters of this view would willingly embrace the Treaty of Versailles except that it involves the agreement of the League. It becomes a disappointing nature because there would actually be less peace when a relationship is built between the covenant and the Treaty. Secondly, a plan that involves international cooperation can be termed as a step forward and the agreement of the League of Nations is a conclusion eagerly to be wished except for the fact that it is associated with the Treaty of Versailles which is vicious. Therefore those in support of this view would willingly oppose the League because supporting it would mean adopting the Treaty and this is a view of liberal internationalism. The United Nations (UN) which was established in 1945 was the second multipurpose organization in the 20th century. Its main aims were to save generations from war, to re-strengthen faith in basic human rights, to promote social and economic progress and better life standards and finally, to create conditions in which justice and respect was paramount and the international law to be maintained. The UN is the ideal institution to manage state relations and global problems because its main objective is to maintain peace and security among various nations. Other objectives may include, respecting and facilitating the promotion of human rights, achieving worldwide compliance to solve international cultural, humanitarian, social and economic problems, establishing friendly connection and bond among countries based on the respect for the morals of human rights and serving as a common place where countries are able to facilitate their actions and activities (Richardson, 2007 p38). The League of Nations together with the United Nations (UN) formed a continuance in general purpose, functions and structures. Most of UN’s basic organs were selected from similar structures together with related agencies but the UN itself comprised of a different organization with the aim of maintaining international peace and security and facilitating social and economic development (Richardson, 2007 p38). The decision making of the UN and its responsibilities were modified due to changes experienced in the international relations. Challenges such as cold war tension that erupted between the Soviet Union and the United States affected the security functions of the UN during the first forty five years. The UN and its agencies tried to put across humanitarian dispute and civil war at the beginning of the 21st century. The UN struggled to fight the panic caused by the spread of the deadly disease called Aids, international terrorism and global financial problems and it proved its worth by solving most of these problems. Despite all these challenges, the UN is still considered an institution and a body for maintaining peace and security in the world by solving global problems. To conclude, liberalization is aimed at reducing state control over the lives of citizens who are subjected to authority of a state and it may involve both political and economic dimensions. Political liberalization is categorized by an expansion of the liberty and rights of an individual and this includes the right to freedom of speech even against the state authorities and organize with anybody to oppose those in power. Economic liberalization on the other hand aims at reducing the intervention by the state in the market place. The main difference between liberal and realistic theories is not in the observation but the realist states are mostly concerned about security threats (Richardson, 2007 p41). If in any circumstance liberal theories were to contribute to illustrate the major realistic cases, for example bipolar conflict, then it would be believed that the deployment of any military force is not the most powerful influence in today’s world politics but instead, it would be the transformation of domestic social values, institutions and interests of the preference states and their differences in world politics. States have been entrenched in a transnational and domestic society creating a catalyst for social, cultural and economic interactions across borders. Reference Richardson, J. 2007. An Introduction to International Relations. ‘Liberalism’, in R. Devetak, A. Burke and J. George (eds). Australian Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 11-44 Read More