Who Supports—and Opposes—the Liberal International Order?

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

With the liberal international order under fire, this panel brings together a number of scholars from diverse backgrounds to present new work on how populism and privilege is shaping contemporary international relations. There is an ongoing debate about what role economics and identity play in shaping domestic support for the liberal international order. These accounts agree that extreme right populism pose a grave threat to the liberal international order, whether reflecting a crisis of identity or underlying economic concerns. Much less attention has been paid to leftist positions despite their more enduring opposition to the liberal international order in one vital area—free trade—as discussed in Iain Osgood and Hyeon-Young Ro’s paper on “Trade’s Progressive Opposition”. But some scholars are skeptical that a class divide explains domestic preferences for, or against, the liberal international order. In “Cosmopolitans and Parochials: Cconomy, Culture, and Political Conflict” Miles Kahler explores how the locational effects of globalization and the local cultures produced in areas that were disproportionately affected by globalization result in more parochial (than cosmopolitan) preferences. To the extent that identity explains domestic preferences for political and economic closure, the literature on the liberal international order has very little, if anything to say about how religious and racial discrimination undermines the order, the topic of Norrlof and Xu’s paper, “Non-discrimination and the Future of the LIO”. For Kristin Hopewell (From Hegemony to Domination: Trump and the Future of the Liberal Trading Order”), the domestic identity crisis unfolding in advanced countries mirrors the international identity crisis experienced by countries who have grown accustomed to a privileged position in the international system, particularly the US, who is pushing back against China’s growing influence in international affairs by pursuing policies that undercut liberal international order.

Sub Unit

• Theme Panel

Individual Presentations

• Trade’s Progressive Opposition - Iain Osgood, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

• Cosmopolitans and Parochials: Economy, Culture, and Political Conflict - Miles Kahler, American University

• Non-discrimination and the Future of the LIO - Carla Norrlof, University of Toronto; Cheng Xu, University of Toronto

• From Hegemony to Domination: Trump and the Future of the Liberal Trading Order - Kristen Hopewell

Chair

• Carla Norrlof University of Toronto

Discussants

• Nita Rudra Georgetown University

• Erik Jones Johns Hopkins University