Liberalism Associate Prof Dr Cenk Aygl Liberalism Early

Liberalism Associate Prof. Dr. Cenk Aygül

Liberalism • Early contributions include Kant’s idea of perpetual peace. The EU from time to time gives references to Kant’s cosmopolitanism. In his work entitled “the perpetual peace” Kant thinks about how a sustainable peace can be reached. What Kant suggests is not a world government and not even a supra-national authority which the states pool their sovereignty but a loose coalition of states that are rules according to the principle of rule of law (republics).

Ruling out wars! • Briand-Kellogg Pact • Also called, the General Treaty for the Renunciation of War or World Peace Act. • Signed on August 28, 1928. • Signatories are: the US, France, the UK, Italy, Japan, Weimar Germany as well as many other countries including Egypt, Ethiopia and Turkey. • The major aim was to prohibit war as “an instrument of national policy. ” • What did change between 1928 and 1931 -36?

1970 s • 1970 s are the years when liberal theses develop. • What are the conjunctural characteristics? • Oil crises, the end of Bretton Woods system, Detente, the strengthening of the EU vis-a-vis the US.

Main points of liberalism • Rationality is the defining universal characteristic of the humans. • People pursue their interests but a consensus can be worked out (a positive-sum game, rather than a zero-sum game). • Cooperation is the essence of all human interactions, including IR. • Government is necessary but centralization of power must be avoided (Paine: the state is a necessary evil!) • Individual liberty comes first.

Assumptions • Page 53 onwards.

Hegemony of the US leads to organized capitalism? • 1944 Dumbarton Oaks Conference=> UN • 1944 - Bretton Woods => World Bank / IMF

Themes: Peace and Security Studies • Michael Doyle: democratic stability thesis • Do democracies fight one another?

Themes: The State • “State is a necessary evil”. But is it still possible to go back to the night watchman state of the English industrial revolution in the late 20 th century?

Themes: Functionalism • EU – European Coal and Steel Community, The European Atomic Energy Agency

Themes: Multinational Corporations • First modern corporations => East India Company, Hudson Bay Company • In the first half of the 20 th century, most corporations were dealing with extracting the resources of the 3 rd World. • After the Second World War, MNCs represented mostly the American-centered global strategies and the first stage was the spread of fordism to Europe. • The relative malaise of the American economy can be analyzed with reference to the MNC strategies.

Themes: Identity and community • For example: Can there be universal human rights or should there be differing conceptions for different cultures / communities?

Themes: Inequality and Justice • North versus South issues

Liberal theorists • Kant, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, John Maynard Keynes.