Constructing Liberalism

I found our conversation on liberalism to be quite interesting. Liberalism offers an effective way of looking at how nations relate, and particularly how they cooperate. However, other parts of it seem nothing less than silly.

In the modern world it would be ridiculous to claim that nations do not depend on other nations to survive. Through the law of comparative advantage production has become (and continues to become) increasingly specialized. Even if we look at the one power that could conceivably challenge the US in the near future, China, we see a relationship of mutual dependence. This situation contradicts any realist predictions that may be made about the rise of China. Of course, the realist would point to the fact that both countries are trying to make themselves more independent (China but dumping US debt and the US by diversifying its trade) but until either country is willing to take a major economic hit for their independence, it doesn’t seem close at hand.

However, I can’t help but think that the rise of liberalism as a theory and the interconnectedness of the world are merely correlated. The primary reason for the interdependence of the world is the free market. With the rise of capitalism and now with globalization no country can hope to exist in isolation and hope to be a world power.

As we learned, before capitalism the European governments ran their economies based on a theory of Mercantilism. In it states sought to gain as much bullion as possible in order to ensure their security. It is not coincidental that realism was the primary theory of international relations at the time. Furthermore, while I have no proof, I believe that by states subscribing to a theory of liberalism and allowing free trade, liberalism become a self-fulfilling prophecy just as much as realism was.

Our reality is not stagnant. Every action we make in life constructs our social reality and every purchase we make shapes the world economy. Every individual citizens actions come together to create a single performance of state. I personally see a lot to be learned from the theory of constructivism and look forward to our discussion today.