Liberalism and Transformation: The Politics of Military Intervention, 1848-2014
Open AccessDomestic institutional change has been a central component of the foreign policy of states in liberal international society since at least the mid-nineteenth century. States have, often, intervened with the purpose of changing governmental institutions, and transforming societies. This project asks: What explains the ways that such “transformative interventions,” as international practices, change over time, and across international systems? Interventions with the aim of transforming domestic institutions of the target have been remarkably understudied in IR theory. Additionally, existing literature on interventionism in international relations theory—more generally—focuses on why states intervene in particular cases, rather than developing theories of macro-historical change in intervention practices There is little theoretical guidance on explaining broader trends in transformative interventionism and the literature that does exist is either ill-equipped to address such issues, or utilizes problematic conceptual equipment.Three distinct approaches to understanding changes in transformative intervention practices are present in the literature. Their focuses, as a whole, are on the frequency and scope of such interventions, as well as the ways leaders choose between transformative or nontransformative strategies. This dissertation suggests that these approaches do not explain macro-historical changes in the practice of transformation when confronted with empirical data. Further, it is argued that the changing character of international liberalism explains not only variation in frequency and scope of such interventions, but also novel facts—including the way that actors make such interventions meaningful. This alternative argument makes two inter-related claims. The first is that international liberalism contains a strand which I have termed emancipatory liberalism. This is a morally-infused liberalism, which has been historically universalist, and paternalistic in its project of providing the conditions for individual safety, and positive liberty. Second, emancipatory liberalism is a cultural and discursive system—made up of a collection of knowledge claims, discourses, and representations. This cultural system has changed, historically, and the ways that it has evolved, fractured, and been contested explains changes in transformative intervention as an international practice.The empirical research employs a mixed-method approach for evaluating the theoretical claims made in light of the data, and existing approaches. This includes discursive, historiographical, and case study methods. In examining intervention patterns and practices since 1848, it provides a macro-historical analysis of transformative intervention in the context of a liberal world order. Furthermore, the dissertation includes a unique large-N dataset of transformative interventions, something that has not been attempted before.This dissertation contributes in three important ways to the existing literature on intervention and international liberalism. First, it presents the first comprehensive study of transformative intervention—examining how the practice has changed historically along multiple dimensions. Second, it details a narrative of international liberalism that is not always so apparent—one that focuses both on its (in)consistencies, as well as its intimate connection to practices of violence. Third, it presents the empirical foundation for a political critique of emancipatory liberalism, and suggests an alternative liberal vision of international politics that problematizes universalism, embraces difference, and takes pluralism seriously.
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