POL 208 Study Guide - Neoliberalism, Non-Governmental Organization, Collective Security

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Politics and Public Administration
• Course: POL 208
• Professor: Abbas Gnamo

Document Summary

Liberalism is a theory of both government within states and good governance between states and peoples worldwide. Unlike realism, which regards the international as an anarchic realm, liberalism seeks to project values of order, liberty, justice, and toleration into international relations. The high water mark of liberal thinking in international relations was reached in the inter war period in the work of idealists, who believed that warfare was an unnecessary and outmoded way of settling disputes between states. Domestic and international institutions are required to protect and nurture these values. Liberals disagree on the fundamental issues such as the causes of war and what kind of institutions are required to deliver liberal values in a decentralized, multi-cultural international system. Early liberal though on international relations took the view that natural order had been corrupted by undemocratic state leaders and out-dated policies such as the balance of power.