By
Daniel Daianu, Clara Volintiru, and Andrew Taylor
Abstract:
The Liberal International Order starts at home in the sense that citizens cherish economic openness and political liberties, which epitomize liberalism in a deep sense. Consequently, countries or blocs that apply it at national level will most likely pursue it at international level too. Building on the two-level game theory of Robert Putnam, we explore the domestic and international dimensions of the contemporary liberal order. As public policies need to consider losers at national level, the same logic should be extrapolated at the international level. Much of the erosion of liberal values at home is driven by the failure of policies based on market fundamentalism—increasing socio-economic disparities despite overall economic growth. This created frustration and anger, that led electorates to challenge fundamental democratic values in favor of populist and anti-establishment alternatives. However, despite an uphill battle in the coming years, we argue that Europe is deeply involved in the multilateral framework, as its very existence is built upon this foundation.
Key words: liberal democracy, nationalism, inward-looking syndrome, multilateralism, European Union, international order, multi-polar world
The full article can be read here.
Parts of this article have been published before as: Daniel Daianu, „The New Protectionism”, Western Commerce Review, 2017; Daniel Daianu, „What kind of EU economic sovereignty are we talking about”, ECFR, November 2018.