| ID | 160063 |
| Title Proper | Liberalism and Its Alternatives, Again |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Owen, John M |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | What is the global future of liberal internationalism (LI)? LI is an interlocking set of national and international institutions designed to maximize individual autonomy through peaceful commerce and self-government. Its future depends on the presence of a liberal hegemon, not only to provide global public goods but to promote liberal democracy by action and example. Hegemons are important to the international spread and contraction of a given regime type. They actively promote their institutions and weaken alternatives, and their successes (failures) inspire imitation (avoidance) in other countries. The future of liberalism was in doubt in the 1930s, but liberal states ended up defeating fascist and later communist ones, and the United States established the current LI system that went global after 1989. Today liberalism's superiority again is in doubt: The continuing rise of market-Leninist China interacts with a new diffidence in the United States to challenge the appeal of liberal democracy and hence LI. China appears to seek an internationalism that is less liberal. The future of LI will turn on how well the United States and other democracies, on the one hand, and China, on the other, respond to the relentless drives toward open economies and automation. |
| `In' analytical Note | International Studies Review Vol. 20, No.2; Jun 2018: p.309–316 |
| Journal Source | International Studies Review Vol: 20 No 2 |
| Key Words | Liberalism ; United States ; China ; International Institutions ; Liberal Internationalism ; Hegemony ; Diffusion |