Classical Liberalism And International Relations Theory

This book calls for a reappraisal of liberalism in IR theory. Based on the first comprehensive analysis of the ideas by David Hume, Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek and a new perspective on Adam Smith and international relations, the analysis shows that classical liberalism differs substantially from other forms of liberalism.

This book calls for a reappraisal of liberalism in international relations theory. Based on the first comprehensive analysis of the ideas on international relations by David Hume, Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek and a new perspective on Adam Smith and international relations, the analysis shows that classical liberalism differs substantially from other forms of liberalism. The book shows that classical liberalism differs sharply from established forms of liberalism in international relations theory, especially when it comes to the appreciation of the role of power in world politics.

This book makes an innovative link between classical liberalism and questions of international economic order. The author begins with an outline of classical liberalism as applied to domestic economic order. He then surveys the classical liberal tradition from the Scottish Enlightenment to modern thinkers like Knight, Hayekn and Viner. Finally, he brings together the insights of thinkers in this tradition to provide a synthetic overview of classical liberalism and international economic order. The author's deployment of classical liberalism strikes a different note to other 'liberal' interpretations in economics and political science. In particular, classical liberalism points to the domestic preconditions of international order, and advocates unilateral liberalisation in the context of an institutional competition between states.

Where do classical liberals stand on international relations? Does this differ from their views on domestic policy? And how does this stance vary from other liberal schools of thought? Here, author Edwin van de Haar draws on the writings of major classical liberal thinkers such as David Hume, Adam Smith, Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek to create an insightful and comprehensive overview of the classical liberal approach to foreign affairs. He delineates how classical liberals embrace a realistic view of human nature, recognising the basic social nature of individuals, yet acknowledging their propensity to quarrel, fight and use violence - and how this has consequently become an inevitable feature of international relations. He compares and contrasts this thinking with other forms of liberal thought, such as libertarianism, social liberalism and conservatism. And he also examines the much bigger difference between classical liberalism and non-liberal thinking on international relations. He argues that classical liberalism has a distinct, timeless and universalist approach to international relations - and that the unique ideas developed by classical liberal writers can, and should, be applied to contemporary world affairs.

This book examines how the liberal international theory tradition evolved in Europe. It includes nine chapters focusing on both historical and contemporary branches of liberal IR theorizing. The combined portrait of the prominent IR theory orientation shows a long and rich theoretical tradition but also a tradition that the scholarly community rarely fully recognize. It is currently somewhat challenged and therefore in need of further advances. Concerning the historical branches, the authors present a truly European tradition that thus was not only present in a few countries. The contributors introduce examples of liberal theorizing that IR scholars tend to dismiss and they trace the boundaries between the liberal and other theoretical traditions. Given the prominence of the tradition, the book is surprisingly among the first to present a transnational perspective on the development of the liberal international theory tradition in Europe.

This book, first published in 2000, provides an overview of theories of the state found in International Relations.

This book explores the complex issue of international ethics in the two dominant schools of thought in international relations; Liberalism and Realism. Both theories suffer from an inability to integrate the ethical and pragmatic dimensions of foreign policy. Liberal policy makers often suffer from moral blindness and a tendency toward coercion in the international arena, whilst realists tend to be epistemic sceptics, incorporating Nietzsche’s thought, directly or indirectly, into their theories. Mark Gismondi seeks to resolve the issues in these two approaches by adopting a covenant based approach, as described by Daniel Elazar’s work on the covenant tradition in politics, to international relations theory. The covenant approach has three essential principles: policy makers must have a sense of realism about the existence of evil and its political consequences power must be shared and limited liberty requires a basis in shared values. Ethics, Realism and Liberalism in International Relations will be of interest to students and researchers of politics, philosophy, ethics and international relations.