The strands of Liberalism

Liberal Institutionalism

• Institutions mitigate anarchy and enable cooperation. Woodrow Wilson: institutions convert the “jungle into a zoo.” Hedley Bull concedes institutions moved IR to an “anarchical society”; the WHO and WTO acted during the pandemic beyond single-state capacity; Nina Tannenwald on the nuclear taboo shows their preventive role. Criticism: often “toothless tigers” (Russia’s Security Council veto; the unresolved Israel–Palestine question).

Sociological Liberalism

• John Burton — the cobweb model, dense society-to-society ties. Karl Deutsch — the security community, where large-scale violence becomes unthinkable through shared values and communication (the transatlantic region, the EU, ASEAN). Track 2 and Track 3 diplomacy.

Functionalism and Neo-Functionalism

• David Mitrany — functionalism (“peace by pieces”); form follows function — cooperation works on technical tasks done better together, building institutions. The assumption that loyalties would transfer from the state to functional bodies proved unworkable given the legitimacy of the nation-state. Ernst B. Haas — neo-functionalism (“federalism by instalments”) and the spillover effect: cooperation in one area (coal and steel) leads to political integration (the EU). Criticism: rests almost solely on the European experiment; the Westphalian state has not faded; charged with Eurocentrism.

Interdependence Liberalism

• Thomas L. Friedman — the Golden Arches Theory (no two countries with McDonald’s have gone to war). Richard Rosecrance — the Trading State: power through economic means (Japan, West Germany). Criticism: trade does not guarantee peace; economic determinism.

Democratic Peace Theory

• Michael W. Doyle (from Kant), with Bruce Russett and James Lee Ray — dyadic peace (democracies do not fight each other) and monadic peace. Reasons: institutional constraints, shared norms, interdependence. Criticism: Douglas Gibler and Andrew Owsiak — peace often precedes democracy; India and Pakistan, both democracies, have fought repeatedly.

Complex Interdependence

• Robert O. Keohane and Joseph S. Nye — a descriptive theory: multiple channels; no hierarchy of issues (military security is not always primary); a minor role for military force. Criticism: struggles with rising defence budgets and open conflict (Ukraine, Iraq).

Neo-Liberalism and the Neo-Neo debate

Keohane (After Hegemony) and Robert Axelrod (The Evolution of Cooperation) accept anarchy but stress cooperation; institutions reduce transaction costs and set norms.

Joseph Grieco — states ask “Who will gain more?” Mearsheimer (The False Promise of International Institutions) — institutions reflect the distribution of power. Krasner — neo-liberalism neglects capabilities. The gap narrowed into a Neo-Neo Synthesis.

Theoretical Traditions

Three stances gave regionalism its legitimacy as idea and project — functionalist, neo-functionalist, federalist — supplemented by communication and intergovernmentalist approaches.