Liberalism after WWII

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From the course by National Research University Higher School of Economics

Understanding International Relations Theory

26 ratings

National Research University Higher School of Economics

Understanding International Relations Theory

26 ratings

The course aims to introduce the key assumptions of the international relations theory as a part of social science and as an analytic tool, focusing on the problems of war and peace, foreign policy decision-making, etc. The course combines historic approach and analysis of the modern political problems. The historic part shows the evolution of the international relations theory from being a part of political philosophy to its emergence as a special branch of political science, which is essential to understand the key ideas of the IR science. The lectures also include broad outline of the modern concepts and debates in the context of the contemporary political problems, such as rise of China and other emerging powers, threat of terrorism, US-Russia confrontation, etc. The lectures of the two outstanding Russian scholars and political analysts – Timofey Bordachev and Dmitry Suslov - cover such fields as the problems of international security and conflict resolution, international economic relations, foreign policy decision-making, global governance, the role of power in the IR.

From the lesson

Neoliberalism: The Liberal paradigm after the WWII

The module aims to teach the evolution of the liberal paradigm during the Cold War. Failed to build up an "eternal peace" after the French Revolution and after the WWI, liberalism proposes a new, even more comprehensive theory to make a new attempt.

Liberalism in IR6:25

Liberalism and the United States9:30

Liberalism after WWII6:48

Meet the Instructors

Timofei Bordachev
Associate professor
Department of international relations
Dmitrii Suslov
Senior Lecturer
Department of international relations, HSE

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So how did liberalism develop after the second World War?

What does neoliberalism consist of?

The outbreak of the second World War, of course,

finished the first round of great debates in the international relations science.

The debate between the liberal idealism and

classical political realism and

an idealist approach of course fails to prevent the new conflict.

The League of Nations fails to create a perpetual peace and

avoid a new war, and thus for a certain time political

realism became a dominant theory of international relations.

Indeed, the outbreak of World War II proved the relevance,

the dominance of realism.

Moreover, after the end of the World War II,

the Cold War started almost immediately.

And the logic and

conduct of the Cold War was also defined by a realist rather than liberal paradigm.

At the global scale the international system became bipolar governed

by the United States on the one side and the Soviet Union on the other side.

And the relations within this bipolar international system, the relations

between these two major poles was determined by realist, not liberal logic.

Does it mean that liberalism marginalized or

died, demised after the beginning of WWII?

Of course not.

Of course not.

On the contrary, liberalism sophisticated, liberalism developed.

And the continuation of liberalism despite the outbreak of second World War and

then Cold War was associated with three important factors.

First, we've already mentioned in the previous video.

The United States of America moved through internationalist policies and

started to establish and consolidate the rule-based

liberal international system within the sphere which they control.

Within the non-Communist part of the international system.

And the United States conducted these essential liberal policies and

never since returns to isolationism.

Secondly, a short period between the end of Second World War and

beginning of the Cold War,

witnessed unprecedented transformation of international system in a liberal way.

It was if you want a golden moment of liberalism, very important.

Immensely important elements of the international system

of the liberal nature were established there.

United Nations organization and a complex comprehensive

system of the international organizations under the auspices of the UN,

known as the UN system was established back then.

Contemporary international law, which exists up til now,

was established back then in 1945 with the adoption of the UN charter.

Bretton Woods global economic system,

IMF, International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank, which up to now

govern international economy, world economy, were established back then.

The foundations of the free trade system of the general agreement on tariffs and

trade, which later became WTO were established back then.

So it was a very short but

remarkably important moment in the history of international relations.

It was the explosion of liberalism, and

since much of these institutions and rules exist up to now.

So liberalism has been providing huge influence

on the development of the international system despite the Cold War.

And third, relations within the Western community were based on the liberal logic,

not on the realist logic.

The relations between Western and

Soviet communities were indeed based on realist assumptions.

But within the Western community,

these relations were based not on dictatorship under the United States,

not just on the realities of the distribution of power, but

on rules, limitations, restraints, norms, and values.

And thus these relations can be really be claimed that

these relations has been conducted on the basis of the liberal logic.

How did liberalism evolve in details after the end of the Second World War?

Several major dimensions of liberal thinking appeared and sophisticated.

Which combined, constitutes the neoliberalism as we know it today.

What are these dimensions?

What are these key elements of the neoliberal theory?

These are the following.

It is liberal institutionalism, a theory which started as the role

of international institutions and how they impact international relations.

It is the complex interdependence theory, the theory that started as the influence

of interdependence of economic relations and

societal relations on political relations among states.

It is a democratic peace theory which claims that democracies do not fight

each other.

It is a regime theory which studies the role of international regimes such as

the regime of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and

their influence on international relations.

It is the studies of integration and particular

theories of European integration which analyze the emergence and

development of the European communities and European Union,

the major liberal creature existing now in the world.

It is Post-Westphalian concepts of sovereignty,

or Post-Westphalian sovereignty concepts.

The concepts of how sovereignty,

state sovereignty changed in conditions of globalization after the end of

the Cold War, when the world is claimed to be post-Westphalian.

And finally it is the concepts of international order.

How does liberalism define, approach and study international order?

And in the later videos we will talk in greater detail about each of these

concepts.

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