Liberal Approaches to International Relations

1. Liberal Approaches to International Relations POL 3080 Approaches to IR

2. Three Major Distinctive Liberal Frameworks • Interdependence and globalization tradition (Joseph Nye and Robert Keohane) • Neoliberal Institutionalism (Robert Keohane and Lisa Martin) • Democratic Peace Theory (Michael Doyle, Bruce Russett; also David Lake) • These are quite different than liberalism in American politics and political ideology!!!

3. Commonalities Among Liberal Approaches • Reject the Hobbesian view of human nature; share a much more optimistic one • Focus on opportunity, rather than constraints • Assume prevalence of common interests • See intentions as important as capabilities • Focus on cost instead of survival as base motivating factor in IR (Realists: “mistakes as deadly;” liberals: “they are costly” • Predict different outcome of int’l interaction compared to realists

4. From Complex Interdependence to Globalization • Assumptions: -- contemporary world politics is not a seamless web but a tapestry of diverse relationships; -- the resources that produce power capabilities have changed -- balance of power theories and national security imagery are poorly adapted to address problems of economic and ecological development -- military and economic interaction are not necessarily a zero-sum game -- does not assume that conflict disappears, but it takes new forms

5. Defining Complex Interdependence • Interdependence (mutual dependence) – situations characterized by reciprocal effects among countries or actors • It is not mere interaction or exchange, but a sustained relationship • It is a condition in which transactions among actors have reciprocal costly effects • Interdependence can be operationalized and measured

6. Measuring Interdependence: Sensitivity • Sensitivity – how quickly do changes in one country bring costly changes in another and how costly these effects are • The focus is not on the amount of trade, but on the correlation between economic transactions to economic development • Sensitivity interdependence is created within a framework of policies and assumes that it remains unchanged • Sensitivity interdependence can be social, political, economic • Sensitivity interdependence can also be a basis for political influence when it is costly to change policies

7. Measuring Interdependence: Vulnerability I • Vulnerability -- actors liability to suffer costs imposed by external events after the policies have been altered • Vulnerability rests on relative availability and costliness of alternatives that various actors face • Vulnerability can be measured only by the costliness of making effective adjustments • While sensitivity reflects change in the dynamic without policy changes, vulnerability can be manipulated through policy adjustment • Vulnerability is more important than sensitivity in power resources to actors • The key question is to determine how effectively altered policies bring sufficient added resources

8. Vulnerability (continued) II • Vulnerabilities may be asymmetric (e.g. the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War) • Vulnerability includes strategic dimension that sensitivities does not capture • Strategies of manipulating vulnerabilities also produce counter-strategies

9. Complex Interdependence I • Conceptual definition: A combination of multiple issues with multiple channels challenges the ability of states to follow and apply a consistent strategy of linkage that will be effective in all issue areas.

10. Complex Interdependence II • For further details, please visit Blackboard or email me at ivanovid@ucmail.uc.edu • Thank you!