Editing International relations (section)

===Liberalism===
{{Main|Liberalism (international relations)}}
{{See also|Liberal internationalism}}

In contrast to realism, the liberal framework emphasises that states, although they are sovereign, do not exist in a purely anarchical system. Rather, liberal theory assumes that states are institutionally constrained by the power of international organisations, and mutually dependent on one another through economic and diplomatic ties. Institutions such as the [[United Nations]], the [[World Trade Organization|World Trade Organisation]] (WTO), and the [[International Court of Justice]] are taken to, over time, have developed power and influence to shape the foreign policies of individual states. Furthermore, the existence of the globalised [[world economy]] makes continuous military power struggle irrational, as states are dependent on participation in the global trade system to ensure their own survival. As such, the liberal framework stresses cooperation between states as a fundamental part of the international system. States are not seen as unitary actors, but pluralistic arenas where interest groups, non-governmental organisations, and economic actors also shape the creation of foreign policy.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Grieco|first=Joseph|title=Introduction to International Relations|publisher=Macmillan International Higher Education|year=2018|isbn=9781352004236|pages=32–57}}</ref><ref name="Mingst, Karen A. 2011">Mingst, Karen A., & Arreguín-Toft, Ivan M. (2011). Essentials of International Relations (5th ed.). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.</ref>

The liberal framework is associated with analysis of the globalised world as it emerged in the aftermath of [[World War II]]. Increased political cooperation through organisations such as the [[United Nations|UN]], as well as economic cooperation through institutions such as the WTO, the World Bank and the [[International Monetary Fund]], was thought to have made the realist analysis of power and conflict inadequate in explaining the workings of the international system.<ref>{{cite news|title=Liberalism and World Politics|work=American Political Science Review|doi=10.2307/1960861|url=http://www.journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0003055400000228|date=December 1986|first=Michael W.|last=Doyle|series=04|language=en|volume=80|pages=1151–1169|jstor=1960861|issn=0003-0554|access-date=2021-03-12|archive-date=2020-07-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711194652/http://www.journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0003055400000228|url-status=dead}}</ref>

====History of liberalism====
The intellectual basis of liberal theory is often cited as [[Immanuel Kant]]'s essay [[Perpetual peace|''Perpetual Peace'']] from 1795. In it, he postulates that states, over time, through increased political and economic cooperation, will come to resemble an international federation—a [[world government]]; which will be characterised by continual peace and cooperation.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last1= Cristol |first1=Jonathan |date=November 2019 |url=https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199743292/obo-9780199743292-0060.xml|title=Liberalism|access-date=2021-03-12|language=en|encyclopedia=Oxford Bibliographies}}</ref> In modern times, [[liberal international relations theory]] arose after [[World War I]] in response to the ability of states to control and limit war in their international relations. Early adherents include [[Woodrow Wilson]] and [[Norman Angell]], who argued that states mutually gained from cooperation and that war was so destructive as to be essentially futile.<ref>{{citation|last1=Trueman|first1=CN|title=Woodrow Wilson|work=The History Learning Site|date=22 May 2015|url=http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/woodrow_wilson.htm|access-date=5 March 2014}}</ref> Liberalism was not recognized as a coherent theory as such until it was collectively and derisively termed idealism by [[E. H. Carr]]. A new version of "idealism" that focused on [[human rights]] as the basis of the legitimacy of [[international law]] was advanced by [[Hans Köchler]].

Major theorists include [[Montesquieu]], [[Immanuel Kant]], [[Michael W. Doyle]], [[Francis Fukuyama]], and [[Helen Milner]].<ref>Mingst, Karen A., & Snyder, Jack L. (2011). Essential Readings in World Politics (4th ed.). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.</ref>

====Liberal institutionalism====
{{Main|Liberal institutionalism}}
{{Further|Complex interdependence}}

[[Liberal institutionalism]] (some times referred to as neoliberalism) shows how cooperation can be achieved in international relations even if neorealist assumptions apply (states are the key actors in world politics, the international system is anarchic, and states pursue their self interest). Liberal institutionalists highlight the role of [[International organization|international institutions]] and [[Regime theory|regimes]] in facilitating cooperation between states.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Axelrod |first1=Robert |last2=Keohane |first2=Robert O. |date=1985 |title=Achieving Cooperation under Anarchy: Strategies and Institutions |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/world-politics/article/abs/achieving-cooperation-under-anarchy-strategies-and-institutions/706B24B2FB4525D661BEB5E954D6DC49 |journal=World Politics |language=en |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=226–254 |doi=10.2307/2010357 |issn=1086-3338 |jstor=2010357|s2cid=37411035 }}</ref>

Prominent neoliberal institutionalists are [[John Ikenberry]], [[Robert Keohane]], and [[Joseph Nye]]. Robert Keohane's 1984 book ''[[After Hegemony]]'' used insights from the [[new institutional economics]] to argue that the international system could remain stable in the absence of a hegemon, thus rebutting hegemonic stability theory.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last=Keohane |first=Robert O. |date=2020 |title=Understanding Multilateral Institutions in Easy and Hard Times |journal=Annual Review of Political Science |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=1–18 |doi=10.1146/annurev-polisci-050918-042625 |issn=1094-2939 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

=====Regime theory=====
{{Main|Regime theory}}

[[Regime theory]] is derived from the liberal tradition that argues that international institutions or regimes affect the behaviour of states (or other international actors). It assumes that cooperation is possible in the anarchic system of states, indeed, regimes are by definition, instances of international cooperation.

While [[Realism (international relations)|realism]] predicts that conflict should be the norm in international relations, regime theorists say that there is cooperation despite anarchy. Often they cite cooperation in trade, human rights and [[collective security]] among other issues. These instances of cooperation are regimes. The most commonly cited definition of regimes comes from [[Stephen Krasner]], who defines regimes as "principles, norms, rules, and decision-making procedures around which actor expectations converge in a given issue-area".<ref>Krasner, Stephen D., ed. 1983. "Structural Causes and Regime Consequences: Regimes as Intervening Variables." In ''International Regimes'', Ithaca: Cornell University Press, pp. 1.</ref>

Not all approaches to regime theory, however, are liberal or neoliberal; some realist scholars like [[Joseph Grieco]] have developed hybrid theories which take a realist based approach to this fundamentally liberal theory. (Realists do not say cooperation ''never'' happens, just that it is not the norm; it is a difference of degree).