Theories in International Relations

Edited from 'A Brief Guide to Theories in International Relations',

copyright Roni Linser , Department of Political Science University of
Melbourne.

REALISM

The principle actors are states, personified unitary rational actors whose behaviour is determined
by the structure of international anarchy. World politics is a self-help system involves a struggle for
power between states in the pursuit of their national interests. Diplomacy is one instrument for
gaining a state's objectives, but ultimately the key instrument is military force.

There are traditional realist theories (see Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations), neo-realist theories
(Waltz, Theory of International Politics), and soft (institutionalist) realist theories (Bull, The
Anarchical Society)

LIBERALISM

Liberalism covers a fairly broad perspective ranging from Wilsonian Idealism through to
contemporary neo-liberal theories and the democratic peace thesis. Here states are but one actor in
world politics, and even states can cooperate together through institutional mechanisms and
bargaining that undermine the propensity to base interests simply in military terms. States are
interdependent and other actors such as Transnational Corporations, the IMF and the United
Nations play a role.

Some texts: Relevant chapters in David A. Baldwin (ed), Neorealism and Neoliberalism: The
Contemporary Debate, and C. Kegley (ed) Controversies in International Relations: Realism and
the Neoliberal Challenge.

CRITICAL THEORY

Critical theory posits that all theories are for someone and for some purpose. Critical theorists seek
to demonstrate the connection between knowledge and practice, fact and value, and make
connections between the knower and the known. Recognising knowledge is not neutral but
constitutive of interests the objective is to provide a critique of traditional problem-solving
positivism with a commitment to emancipation and new forms of international community
conducive to freedom, cooperation, and peace.

See the works of Andrew Linklater (e.g., 'The Achievements of Critical Theory', in Steve Smith,
Ken Booth, and Marysia Zalewski (eds), International Theory: Positivism and Beyond).

CONSTRUCTIVISM

One of the main assumptions of a constructivist approach is that identities, norms, and culture play
important roles in world politics. Identities and interests of states are not simply structurally
determined, but are rather produced by interactions, institutions, norms, cultures. It is process, not
structure, which determines the manner in which states interact.

See Alexander Wendt, 'Anarchy is What States Make of It', International Organisation, 46/2, 1992.
 FEMINISM

There is a number of feminist approaches to World Politics, but all share the assumption that
gender is important and it makes a difference that men, not women, have written the main theories
and been in control of policy-making. Realism, for example, is seen as a gendered theory, written
by men to describe an aggressive world of states controlled by men. Most feminist theories of
world politics share the assumption that the world would be a less competitive and less violent
place if women gained dominance in positions of power (state power and relating to knowledge).

See A. Tickner, Gender in International Relations, Columbia UP, 1992, and M. Zalewski, 'Feminist
Theory and IR', in M. Bowker and R. Brown (eds), From Cold War to Collapse: Theory and World
Politics in the 1980s, CUP, 1993.

Edited from 'A Brief Guide to Theories in International Relations',

copyright Roni Linser , Department of Political Science University of
Melbourne.

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International relations (IR) is an academic An academic – a member of academia – is a person who
works as a researcher (and usually teacher) at a university or similar institution. In the United States,
the term is approximately synonymous with professor. In the United Kingdom, varius titles are used,
typically fellow, lecturer, reader and professor. In other parts of the world, the term scholar is probably
closer.
..... Click the link for more information. and public policy

General Definition
According to an academic-type definition, public policy is the study of effective policy making by
governments. This raises the question of what "effective" means in this context. Of course, people of
different political persuasions have varying ideas about the proper purpose of government. Some
would say that the goal of public policy is to identify and act upon the behavior of groups of human
beings; and that usually the actor is a government, and its usual goals are to increase the wealth and
power of the rulers and wealthy, hopefully by also increasing the health and well-being of the general
society.
..... Click the link for more information. field, a branch of political science Political science is the
study of politics. It involves the study of structure and process in government - or any equivalent
system that attempts to assure safety, fairness, and closure across a broad range of risks and access
to a broad range of commons for its human charges. Accordingly, political scientists may study social
institutions such as corporations, unions, and churches.

The term "political science" was first coined in 1880 by Herbert Baxter Adams, a
professor of history at Johns Hopkins University.
..... Click the link for more information. , dealing with the foreign policy

A foreign policy is a set of political goals that seeks to outline how a particular
country will interact with the other countries of the world.

Foreign policies generally are designed to help protect a country's national interests,
national security, ideological goals, and economic prosperity. This can occur as a
result of peaceful co-operation with other nations, or through aggression, war, and
exploitation.
..... Click the link for more information. of states

This article discusses states as sovereign political entities. For other meanings,
see state (disambiguation).

In international law and international relations, a state is a political entity possessing

sovereignty, i.e. not being subject to any higher political authority.

The definition of "state" in the meaning of a political subdivisions of some countries, is

related as it emphasizes the intention of a confederation where these state
governments are seen as possessing some powers independently of the federal
government. Often these states existed before their creation of a federal régime.
..... Click the link for more information. within the international system, including the
roles of international organizations An international organization is an organization
of international scope or character. There are two main types of international
organizations: international intergovernmental organizations, whose members are
sovereign states; and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which are private
organizations. Generally the term international organization is used to mean
international governmental organizations only. It is in this sense that the term is used
in the remainder of this article.
..... Click the link for more information. , non-governmental organizations

A Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) is an organization which is independent

from governments and their policies. Generally, although not always, these are non-
profit organizations that gain at least a portion of their funding from private sources.
Because of the negative definition, (the implication that an NGO is anything that is not
government), many NGOs now prefer the term Private voluntary organization
(PVO).
..... Click the link for more information. (NGOs), and multinational corporations A
multinational corporation (MNC) or transnational corporation is one that spans
multiple nations; these corporations are often very large. Such companies have
offices and/or factories in different countries. They usually have a centralised head
office where they coordinate global management.

Very large multinationals have a budget that exceeds that of many countries. They
can be seen as a power in global politics. See: Comprehensive Corporate Power
..... Click the link for more information. (MNCs). Because international relations seeks to
analyze as well as formulate foreign policy, it can be either positive In the humanities
and social sciences, the term positive is used in a number of ways.

One usage refers to analysis or theories which only attempt to describe how things
are, as opposed to how they should be. In this sense, the opposite of positive is
normative. An example would be positive, as opposed to normative, economic
analysis. Positive statements are also often referred to as descriptive statements.
..... Click the link for more information. and normative Normative is contrasted with its
antonym, positive, when describing types of theories, beliefs, or statements.

A positive statement is a falsifiable statement that attempts to describe ontology.

A normative statement, on the other hand, is a statement regarding how things

should or ought to be. Such statements are impossible to prove or disprove, thus
forever banishing them from the world of the scientific.
..... Click the link for more information. .

It draws upon such diverse fields as political science Political science is the study of
politics. It involves the study of structure and process in government - or any
equivalent system that attempts to assure safety, fairness, and closure across a
broad range of risks and access to a broad range of commons for its human charges.
Accordingly, political scientists may study social institutions such as corporations,
unions, and churches.

The term "political science" was first coined in 1880 by Herbert Baxter Adams, a
professor of history at Johns Hopkins University.
..... Click the link for more information. , economics Economics is a social science that
studies human behavior and welfare as a relationship between ends socialy required
and scarce means which have alternative uses (Lionell Robbins, 1935). That is,
economics is the study of the trade-offs involved when choosing between alternate
sets of decisions, considering collective and individual benefits.
Understanding choice by individuals and groups is thus central in economics. With
scarcity, choosing one alternative implies foregoing another alternative; economists
refer to the best alternative forgone by taking another choice as the opportunity cost.
For instance, learning one skill implies time not spent learning another. In a market
setting, scarcity is often quantified by price relationships.
..... Click the link for more information. , history
HIStory
Album by Michael Jackson
Released 1995
Recorded ???
Genre Disco / Funk / R&B / Pop-Rock / Pop
Length ???

Record label Epic Records

Producer ???
Professional reviews
Q 3 stars out of 5 January 2001
Robert Christgau Grade: ** Honorable mention link
Rolling Stone 4 stars out of 5 (RS 714)
Michael Jackson Chronology
Dangerous
(1991) HIStory
(1995) Blood on the Dance Floor
(1997)
..... Click the link for more information. , law

• LAW is a US Army light anti-tank weapon

• LAW is a law society called Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights

This article is about law in society. For other article subjects named law see law (disambiguation).

This article is concerned with laws of politics and jurisprudence: rules of conduct
which mandate and/or proscribe specified relationships among people and
organizations; as well as punishments for those who do not follow the established
rules of conduct.
..... Click the link for more information. , philosophy Philosophy is the critical study of the
most fundamental questions that humankind has been able to ask. Philosophers ask
questions such as

• Metaphysics: What sorts of things exist? What is the nature of those things? Do some things
exist independently of our perception? What is the nature of space and time? What is the
nature of thought and thinking? What is it to be a person? What is it to be conscious? Is there
a god?
•

..... Click the link for more information. , social studies The social sciences comprise the scientific
study of the human aspects of the world. They are also known as social studies.

Psychology studies the human mind, sociology examines human society, political
science studies the governing of groups and economics concerns itself with the
allocation of wealth in society. Social sciences diverge from the humanities in that the
social sciences emphasise the scientific method or other rigorous standards of
evidence in the study of humanity.
..... Click the link for more information. , sociology Sociology studies the social rules and
processes that bind, and separate, people not only as individuals, but as members of
associations, groups, and institutions.

A typical textbook definition of sociology calls it the study of the social lives of
humans, groups and societies. Sociology is interested in our behavior as social
beings; thus the sociological field of interest ranges from the analysis of short
contacts between anonymous individuals on the street to the study of global social
processes.
..... Click the link for more information. , and other social sciences The social sciences
comprise the scientific study of the human aspects of the world. They are also known
as social studies.

Psychology studies the human mind, sociology examines human society, political
science studies the governing of groups and economics concerns itself with the
allocation of wealth in society. Social sciences diverge from the humanities in that the
social sciences emphasise the scientific method or other rigorous standards of
evidence in the study of humanity.
..... Click the link for more information. . International relations involves a diverse range of
issues, including the environmental movement Environmental movement is a term
often used for any social or political movement directed towards the preservation,
restoration, or enhancement of the natural environment. Here are some of the most
prominent and well-defined examples:

• The North American Conservation movement dating at least to John James Audubon which
sought to protect biodiversity on aesthetic traditional and spiritual grounds.
•

..... Click the link for more information. , nuclear proliferation Nuclear proliferation is the spread from
nation to nation of nuclear technology, including nuclear power plants but especially nuclear weapons.

The primary focus of anti-proliferation efforts is to maintain control over the

specialized materials necessary to build such devices because, this is the most
difficult and expensive part of a nuclear weapons programme. (In the Manhattan
Project,
..... Click the link for more information. , nationalism Nationalism is a concept of identity
which members of a particular government, nation, society, or territory may
collectively feel. Nationalists strive to create or sustain a nation based on various
notions of political legitimacy. Nationalist ideologies often trace their development
from the Romantic theory of "cultural identity" and/or the Liberalist argument that
political legitimacy is derived from the consent of a region's population.
..... Click the link for more information. , foreign aid Foreing aid is when one country helps
another country through some form of donation. Usually this refers to helping out a
country that has a special need caused by poverty, underdevelopment, natural
disasters, armed conflicts etc.

The main recievers of foreign aid are developing nations (third world countries), and
the main contributors are the industrialized countries.

..... Click the link for more information. , economic development Economic development
is the development of economies of countries, presumably towards a Western model.
It expresses the reasons why we have developing economies. Received economic
lore, especially that of capitalism, aims at continued growth and expansion of national
economies so that 'developing nations' become 'developed nations' and followers of
this school deride any possibility of an economically stable state.
..... Click the link for more information. , and human rights Human rights, or natural
rights, are rights which some hold to be "inalienable" and belonging to all humans,
according to natural law. Such rights are thought, by proponents, to be necessary for
freedom and the maintenance of a "reasonable" quality of life.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

In 1948 the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html which was an over-arching set of standards by
which governments, organisations and individuals would measure their behaviour
towards each other.
..... Click the link for more information. .

Theories
There are many ways of thinking in international relations theory, including
constructivism

• In education, constructivism is an learning theory which asserts that children should be

taught in a way that allows them to construct their own understandings about a subject. The
purpose of the teacher is not to cover material but to help the child "uncover" the facts and
ideas in a subject area.
• In art and architecture, constructivism was an artistic movement in Russia

..... Click the link for more information. , institutionalism, Marxism

Marxism is the political practice and or social theory based on the works of Karl
Marx, a nineteenth century philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary and
Friedrich Engels. Marx drew on Hegel's philosophy, the political economy of Adam
Smith, Ricardian economics, and 19th century French socialism to develop a critique
of society which he claimed was both scientific and revolutionary. This critique
achieved its most systematic (if unfinished) expression in his masterpiece, 'Capital: A
Critique of Political Economy' (Das Kapital).
..... Click the link for more information. , and others. However, two schools of thought are
predominant: realism The word realism is used in several of the liberal arts;
particularly painting, literature, and philosophy. It is also used in international
relations.

In the visual arts and literature, realism is a mid-19th century movement, which
started in France. The realists sought to render everyday characters, situations,
dilemmas, and events; all in an "accurate" (or realistic) manner. Realism began as a
reaction to romanticism, in which subjects were treated idealistically. Realists tended
to discard theatrical drama and classical forms of art to depict sometimes ugly or
commonplace subjects, sometimes even a moral message.
..... Click the link for more information. and liberalism Liberalism may be used to
describe one of several ideologies that claims individual liberty to dissent from
orthodox tenets or established authorities in political or religious matters, in contrast
to conservatism and/or communitarianism.

1. One usage of the term is for a tradition of thought, that tries to circumscribe the limits of
political power, and to define inalienable individual rights. This is the most common usage
outside of the United States.

..... Click the link for more information. .

Realism makes several key assumptions. It assumes that the international system is
anarchic Anarchy (New Latin anarchia, from Greek anarkhi, from anarkhos, without a
ruler : an-, without ; see a-1 + arkhos, ruler ; see archon) is a term that has a number
of different but related usages. Specific meanings
http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/a/a0282000.html include 1) absence of any form
of political authority; 2) Political disorder and confusion; and 3) absence of any
cohesive principle, such as a common standard or purpose.

..... Click the link for more information. , in the sense that there is no authority above states capable
of regulating their interactions; states must arrive at relations with other states on their own, rather than
it being dictated to them by some higher controlling entity (that is, no true authoritative world
government A world government is a hypothetical entity consisting of a single government with
authority over the entire world. No such world government has ever existed, although large empires
and superpowers have attained something of that level of power; historical examples have generally
been hindered by the fact that insufficient communications and travel made a world organisation of any
sort, much less an entire government, unfeasible. This article will examine what moves have been
made towards a world government, and which movements have advocated such a state.
..... Click the link for more information. exists). It also assumes that sovereign states, rather than
international institutions, non-governmental organizations, or multinational corporations, are the
primary actors in international affairs. According to realism, each state is a rational actor that always
acts towards its own self-interest, and the primary goal of each state is to ensure its own security.
Realism holds that in pursuit of that security, states will attempt to amass resources, and that relations
between states are determined by their relative level of power. That level of power is in turn determined
by the state's capabilities, both military and economic.

There are two sub-schools of realism: maximal realism and minimal realism. The
theory of maximal realism holds that the most desirable position to be in is that of the
hegemon, the most powerful entity in the world, and that smaller entities will align
themselves with the hegemon out of political self-interests. Under maximal realism,
the position where there are simultaneously two equally powerful co-hegemons (such
as was the case during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet
Union) is an inherently unstable one and that state will inevitably collapse into a more
stable state where one is more powerful and one is less powerful.

The theory of minimal realism holds that non-hegemonic states will ally against the
hegemon in order to prevent their own interests from being subsumed bu the
hegemon's interests. Under the minimal-realism theory it is possible to have two
equally powerful co-hegemons with whom a smaller entity may ally in turn depending
on which hegemon better fits with the smaller entity's policies at the moment (playing
both sides against the middle).

Liberalism holds that state preferences, rather than state capabilities, are the
primary determinant of state behavior. Preferences will vary from state to state,
depending on their culture, economic system, or type of government. Many different
strands of liberalism have emerged; some include commercial liberalism, liberal
institutionalism, and idealism.

Recently, realism and liberalism have evolved into neo-realism and neo-liberalism.

Different schools of thought in international relations can predict the same events.
The theories are differentiated by the assumptions they make in their reasoning
toward predictions. For example, both realists and liberals claim that events as
disparate as World War I, the Cold War, and the relatively conflict-free post-Cold War
Europe were predicted by their theories. The theories differ in the fundamental
assumptions they make in predicting state behavior. It is possible that one liberal
theorist will predict war while another liberal theorist will predict peace; their
disagreement arises from how they interpret events, but their fundamental
assumptions are the same. Similarly, it is possible that a realist theorist and a liberal
theorist could both predict peace, but their fundamental assumptions as to why that
occurs would be different.

People
Many diplomats and scholars have contributed to the field of international relations,
including:

• Hedley Bull
• E. H. Carr - Noam Chomsky - Michael Cox - Robert Cox
• Michael Doyle
• Francis Fukuyama
• John Lewis Gaddis
• Thomas Hobbes - Eric Hobsbawm - Stanley Hoffmann - Samuel P. Huntington
• Robert Jervis - Alastair Iain Johnston
• Immanuel Kant - George F. Kennan - Paul Kennedy - Robert Keohane - Henry Kissinger
• Vladimir Lenin
• Niccolò Machiavelli - Karl Marx - John J. Mearsheimer - Andrew Moravcsik - Hans Morgenthau
• Joseph Nye
• Bertrand Russell
• Theda Skocpol - Steve Smith - Glenn H. Snyder
• A. J. P. Taylor - Thucydides - Charles Tilly
• Immanuel Wallerstein - Kenneth Waltz - Max Weber - Alexander Wendt

Journals
 • Foreign Affairs
• Foreign Policy
• International Affairs
• International Organization
• International Security
• International Studies Quarterly

Topics in international relations

anti-globalization - anti-globalization movement - arms control - civil society -
culture - diplomacy - economic development - environment - foreign affairs - foreign
aid - globalization - human rights - international law - international organization -
international political economy - international trade - multiculturalism - nationalism -
nuclear proliferation - peace - poverty - terrorism - war preview not available. Click the
link for more information.
Some articles mentioning "International relations theory":
∞ A Brilliant Madness International Interstate system Neoclassical
3NF Clash of civilizations relations Joseph Nye philosophy
8va Constructivism International studies Neo-liberal Neoliberal
8ve Crisis management International system Neo-liberalism Neoliberalism
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Word:
Neo-liberalism
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Neoliberalism is political philosophy and movement beginning in the 1960s Centuries: 19th century -
20th century - 21st century

Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s - 1960s - 1970s 1980s 1990s
2000s

Years: 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 - 1960 - 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965

Events
• January 1 - Independence of Cameroon
• January 11 - Chad declares its independence.
• January 23 - Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh in the bathyscaphe

..... Click the link for more information. that de-emphasizes traditional liberal Liberal is also the name
of two towns in the United States: Liberal, Kansas and Liberal, Missouri.
The word liberal, like liberty, derives from the Latin liber ("free"). In religion and politics, to be liberal is
to be tolerant or open-minded, to favour freedom over control. In other words, a liberal is someone who
adheres to the ideology of liberalism. In the United States, the word is sometimes used as an antonym
for Conservative or a synonym for left-wing.
..... Click the link for more information. doctrines to achieve progress and social justice Social
justice (civil justice) is a concept largely based in various social contract theories. Most variations on
the concept hold that as governments are instituted among populations for the benefit of members of
those populations, those governments which fail to see to the welfare of their citizens are failing to
uphold their part in the social contract and are, therefore, unjust. The concept usually includes, but is
not limited to, upholding human rights; many variants also contain some beliefs concerning more
equitable distributions of wealth and resources.
..... Click the link for more information. by more pragmatic methods, especially an emphasis on
economic growth

Economic growth is the increase in the value of goods and services produced by an
economy. It is conventionally measured as the % rate of increase in Gross Domestic
Product, or GDP. Growth is usually calculated in real terms (i.e., netting out the effect
of inflation on the price of the goods and services produced).

The GDP per capita of an economy is often used as an indicator of the average
standard of living of individuals in that country, and economic growth is therefore
often seen as indicating an increase in the standard of living.
..... Click the link for more information. . Because of close association between this
philosophy and neoclassical economics Neoclassical economics is grouping of a
number of schools of thought in economics. There is not complete agreement on
what is meant by neoclassical economics -- in particular, vision, problem domains,
and particular concerns vary among neoclassical economists.

Neoclassical theories often revolve around utility and profit maximization. Profit
maximization lies behind the neoclassical theory of the firm, the derivation of supply
curves for consumer goods, and the derivation of demand curves for factors of
production. Utility maximization is the source for the neoclassical theory of
consumption, the derivation of demand curves for consumer goods, and the
derivation of factor supply curves and reservation demand.
..... Click the link for more information. , and confusion with the overloaded term "liberal",
the term neoclassical philosophy is advocated by some.

Either term is primarily used by critics of neoliberalism rather than proponents, thus
most discussion and description of neoliberalism is written from a critical point of
view. Supporters of concepts found in neoliberalism, such as free trade Free trade is
an economic concept referring to the selling of products between countries without
tariffs or other trade barriers. Free trade is the absence of artificial (government-
imposed) barriers to trade among individuals and firms in different nations.
International trade is often constricted by different national taxes, other fees imposed
on exported and imported goods, as well as non-tariff regulations on imported goods;
theoretically, free trade is against all these restrictions. In reality, trade agreements
that are labelled as "free trade" by their proponents may actually create their own
barriers to a free market. Some critics of such trade agreements see them as
protecting the interests of corporations.
..... Click the link for more information. and capitalism Capitalism generally refers to

• a combination of economic practices that became institutionalized in Europe between the 16th
and 19th centuries, especially involving the centrality of wage labor and the formation and
trade in ownership of corporations (see corporate personhood and companies) for buying and
selling goods, especially capital goods (including land and labor power), in a relatively free
(meaning, free from state control) market
•

..... Click the link for more information. , view many of the descriptions of neoliberalism as straw man

Original use
A straw man or man of straw is, in its literal sense, a dummy in the shape of a man
created by stuffing straw into clothes or some other container. Straw men have been
used as scarecrows, combat-training targets, or effigies to be burned. This led to a
long history of metaphoric and rhetorical uses to refer a person or thing that is weak
or ineffective, especially if it was created specifically to be weak.
..... Click the link for more information. arguments.

As described by Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (also UCB, Cal,

Berkeley, or UC Berkeley) is the oldest campus of the University of California,
situated in Berkeley, California on the east side of the San Francisco Bay, overlooking
the Golden Gate. There are over 33,000 students enrolled and over 1,900 faculty.

History
In 1866, the land which is now the
..... Click the link for more information. economic historian Bradford DeLong,
neoliberalism has two main tenets:

"The first is that close economic contact between the industrial core and the
developing periphery is the best way to accelerate the transfer of technology which is
the sine qua non for making poor economies rich (hence all barriers to international
trade should be eliminated as fast as possible). The second is that governments in
general lack the capacity to run large industrial and commercial enterprises. Hence,
[except] for core missions of income distribution, public-good infrastructure,
administration of justice, and a few others, governments should shrink and privatize)."

Neoliberalism is often identified with a number of global organizations, including the

World Trade Organization WTO redirects here. Alternate meanings: World
Tourism Organization.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an international organization which

oversees a large number of agreements covering the "rules of trade" between its
member states. It was created in 1995 as a secretariat to administer the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, a trade treaty which laid much of the groundwork for
the WTO. WTO headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland. Its current Director-
General is Supachai Panitchpakdi.
..... Click the link for more information. (WTO), the World Bank

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, in Romance languages:
BIRD), better known as the World Bank, came into existence on December 27, 1945 following
international ratification of the agreements reached at the Bretton Woods Conference of July 1 - July
22, 1944.

An international organization that provides long term loans to assist developing

..... Click the link for more information. and the International Monetary Fund

The IMF (International Monetary Fund) is an international organization. It is

responsible for managing the global financial system and for providing loans to its
member states to help alleviate balance of payments problems. Part of its mission is
to help countries that experience serious economic difficulties. In return, the countries
who are helped are obliged to launch certain reforms, such as privatizations.
..... Click the link for more information. (IMF). The concept of neoliberalism arose as
economists at the World Bank and IMF found that post-World War II World War II is
the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the
great majority of the world's nations, being fought simultaneously in several major
theaters, and costing approximately 50 million lives. The war was fought mainly
between an alliance of the United States, the Soviet Union, China and Britain (known
as the Allies), and the Axis Powers, an alliance between Germany, Italy and Japan.
Most of the fighting occurred in the European theater in and around Europe, and in
the Asian theater in the Pacific and East Asia.
..... Click the link for more information. development strategies for poor countries were
not having the intended effects. In particular, funding for mega-projects left poor
countries with high debts but little growth to show for it.

The neoliberal doctrine is also a subset of the so-called "Washington consensus The
Washington consensus were a set of policies which were believed to be the formula
for promoting economic growth in Latin America (although not for all countries). It was
first presented by John Williamson from the Institute for International Economics in
1989.

The consensus included ten reforms that should be undertaken as of 1989 (these
reforms were also summarized by the World Bank in its year 2000 Poverty Report):

..... Click the link for more information. ": a set of specific policy goals designed for Latin American
countries to help them recover from the "lost decade" of the 1980s. This period not only saw a rise in
dictatorships A dictatorship is a government headed by a dictator or more generally any authoritarian
or totalitarian government. It is often equivalent to a police state, but the term "dictatorship" refers to
the way the leaders gain and hold power, not the watch kept on the citizens. Some dictators have been
popular enough not to have to employ many very oppressive measures. The term generally has a
pejorative meaning in reference to a government that does not allow a population to determine its own
political direction by popular election.
..... Click the link for more information. in the region, but also disastrous financial mismanagement
resulting in rapidly rising prices for basic products, which inevitably caused an increase in poverty

Poverty is a subjective and comparative term describing a lack of sufficient wealth

(usually understood as capital, money, material goods, or resources especially
natural resources) to live what is understood in a society as a "normal" life: for
instance, to be capable of raising a healthy family, and especially educating children
and participating in society. A person living in this condition of poverty is said to be
poor. The meaning of "sufficient" varies widely across the different political and
economic areas of the world.
..... Click the link for more information. . In addition to the tenets of neoliberalism, the
Washington consensus stipulated that a country should have stable exchange rates
and a government budget in balance.

Neoliberalism has drawn its share of critics due, in part, to some catastrophic failures.
In particular, Nobel prize winner and former World Bank chief economist Joseph
Stiglitz Joseph Stiglitz (born February 9, 1943) is an American economist, author
and Nobel laureate (2001). He is probably the most famous contemporary left-leaning
economist, a post-social-democratic answer to Milton Friedman, as it were.

Stiglitz was born in Gary, Indiana. From 1960 to 1963, he studied at Amherst College,
then went to MIT for his fourth year as an undergraduate and later to pursue graduate
work. From 1965 to 1966, he received a Fulbright Fellowship to study at Cambridge
University. In subsequent years, he taught at MIT and Yale. He currently teaches at
the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University.
..... Click the link for more information. argues that the IMF is guilty of forcing neoliberal
and Washington consensus policy goals on countries at times when it was not
appropriate (i.e., the Asian Economic Crisis The Asian financial crisis was a
financial crisis that started in July 1997 in Thailand, and affected currencies, stock
markets, and other asset prices of several Asian countries, many part of the East
Asian Tigers. It is also commonly referred to as the Asian Currency Crisis.

Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand were the countries most affected by the crisis
with Malaysia, Philippines and Hong Kong also hit by the slump. Mainland China and
Taiwan were relatively unaffected. Japan was not affected much by this crisis but was
going through its own ongoing long-term economic difficulties.
..... Click the link for more information. ), with devastating results. Neoliberalism has also
been criticised by the anti-capitalist movement, who argue that market forces
inevitably increase inequality in wealth and hence power.

While some use the terms neoliberal and libertarian

The term libertarian, as used in the United States, commonly refers to the ideas and
adherents of libertarianism (aka classical liberalism).

Etymology of the word "libertarian"

The term "libertarian" originally meant proponent of liberty, and can still be used in
this meaning, in the proper context. It can be opposed to authoritarian (in politics), or
to proponents of determinism (in philosophy), etc.
..... Click the link for more information. or classical liberalism Classical liberalism is a
political ideology that originated in the 19th century. It is often seen as being the
natural ideology of the industrial revolution and the subsequent capitalist system.
Ideas such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of thought were
first proposed by classical liberal thinkers. The influence of classical liberalism has
been so widespread that the majority of Western countries are considered to be
liberal democracies.
..... Click the link for more information. interchangeably there is a difference between the
two philosophies. While both share a belief in market economics and free trade,
neoliberal economics theory shares with neoliberal international relations theory (and
liberal internationalism) a belief in international regimes and a degree of global
governance as a means of negotiating and administering international agreements.
Neoliberals believe that greater economic and political interdependence will lead to
progress and a reduction of international tensions or at least divert states from
utilizing military means to resolve conflict. Libertarians reject the neoliberal belief that
global governance bodies or state negotiated treaty regimes that bind the individual
are desirable.

See also: anti-capitalism Opposition to capitalism. Since anti-capitalism covers a

very wide collection of ideologies (some of which oppose each other more than they
oppose capitalism), common objections to capitalism have been collected here, while
specific objections are in the articles on specific ideologies.

Many different and opposite ideologies fight against capitalism:

• Socialism argues for extensive

..... Click the link for more information. , privatization

Privatization (sometimes: denationalization or privatisation) is the economic

process of transferring property, from public ownership to private ownership. An
opposite process is nationalization. In theory, privatization helps establish a "free
market", as well as fostering capitalist competition. Conversely, socialists view
privatization negatively, arguing that it reduces state control of essential services.
..... Click the link for more information. , Keynesian economics

Keynesian economics, or Keynesianism, is an economic theory based on the

ideas of John Maynard Keynes, as put forward in his book The General Theory of
Employment, Interest and Money, published in 1936.

In Keynes' economic theory, general economic trends can overwhelm the specific
behavior of individuals. Instead of economic output being based on continuous
improvements
..... Click the link for more information. , globalisation

Globalization (or globalisation) in its literal sense is a social change, an increase in

connections among societies and their elements. The term is applied to many social,
commercial and economic activities. Depending on the context it can mean closer
contact between different parts of the world (globalization of the world), such as
increasing relations among members of an industry
..... Click the link for more information. , Think tank Think Tank can be:

• a Spoken Word recording by Henry Rollins

• an album by the band Blur
• a museum in Birmingham, England
• think tanks, idea-producing organizations.

A think tank is a group of individuals in military laboratories, corporations, or other institutions

dedicated to high-level synergistic research on a variety of subjects.

Discoveries

..... Click the link for more information.

External Critical Resources

• http://www.globalexchange.org/economy/econ101/neoliberalism.html
• http://econ161.berkeley.edu/TotW/Easterly_neoliberal.html
• http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/movable_type/archives/001275.html
• http://econ161.berkeley.edu/TotW/Easterly_neoliberal.html
• What is Neoliberalism?
• http://web.inter.nl.net/users/Paul.Treanor/neoliberalism.html
• What I Learned at the World Economic Crisis, by Joseph Stiglitz

preview not available. Click the link for more information.

Some articles mentioning "Neo-liberalism":
Alter-globalization Le Monde Market-oriented Neoliberal Subcomandante
Alterglobalization diplomatique economy Neoliberalism Marcos
Altermondialization Market economy Neo- New liberalism Subcommandante
Joseph Nye Market-based Neo-liberal Shock therapy Marcos
economy Neoclassical (economics) Union des forces
 Market-directed philosophy progressistes
economy

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