Session 15: A Different Path.

In 1995, the famous political scientist, John J. Mearsheimer wrote an article named, ‘The False Promise of International Institutions’, which basically highlighted the strengths of realism and the weaknesses of liberal institutionalism. In response to this piece of writing, another article was published in the same year co-authored by Robert O. Keohane and Lisa L. Martin. This article is called ‘The Promise of Institutionalist Theory’. The authors have based their entire writing criticizing the Mearsheimer’s argument and defending the liberal institutionalism theory.

Keohane and Martin have negated Mearsheimer’s argument that states must remain in constant restlessness assuming that other states are conspiring against them, which ultimately leads to the concept of security dilemma. Unlike realism, liberal institutionalism does not place emphasis on factors such as military capabilities and security issues. The two authors have shunned down the theory of relative gains of power and have argued that absolute power should be considered instead.

Moreover, the authors have given the examples of international organizations such as the European Union and the United Nation, which focus mainly on soft power instead of hard power. These organizations are mainly based on rules and norms that help govern the interaction between the state and non-state actors. Issues such as human rights or protecting the environment are discussed and this leads to the non-state actors being brought back into the world affairs.

Liberal institutionalism focuses on the role that states play in the international arena and like realism, it acknowledges that the international system is anarchic in nature and that sovereignty is still of utmost importance. However, there are other major differences and political scientists have debated over these differences for decades. Supporters of liberal institutionalism claim that it can be tested against ‘real evidence’ and it takes into account domestic politics and outside players. Globalization has had a major impact on the international relations and we will further dissect this school of thought in the upcoming sessions seeing how liberal institutionalism has played its role in world politics and how it will further shape the international society.​