The impact of liberalism in international politics

Abstract or Introduction

This essay deals with liberalism in international politics. Although there are some variations, distinctions and at times even contradictions within the liberal theory, several main themes of a liberal approach can be distinguished. The essay sets out to investigate what are the principal themes of a liberal approach to international politics and how they have been reflected in practice.

There are substantial disagreements between many authors regarding the extent to which liberalist ideas have been realised within the international politics. Some regard liberalism, particularly with its manifestation in the global world economy as a very powerful and influential doctrine. Others, however, argue that liberalism lacks sufficient influence within Western societies and perhaps even more in non-Western ones and cannot return as a major political force due to the underlying tensions and contradictions

It can be, however, argued that liberal ideas have come to dominate the economic sphere, although, it is questionable whether in the light of the recent financial crisis any further deregulation, particularly in financial sector is possible. In addition, the many internal contradictions between the liberal ideas, most notably the free market and human rights and the devastating effects of unfettered trade, such as environmental degradation, growing inequalities and economic dependencies call for a different approach to international politics, at least with regards to the economical policy.