「リベラルな国際主義」の変容と新冷戦2.0

<p>This paper explores how “liberal internationalism” has changed in the post-Cold War period. It also investigates how this change has affected and will affect the international order in the near future. Wining the Cold War and defeating the communist Soviet Union, the United States (US) has achieved its primacy in the world. In other word, the US has enjoyed a so-called “unipolar moment” in which the U.S. possess both unparalleled economic power and invincible military might to accomplish its national interests in the post-Cold War period. American foreign policy after the Second World War has been characterized as “liberal internationalism” because the U.S. has built and has promoted liberal values and institutions in the world to make “a world safe for democracy.” Free trade has been the pillar of “liberal internationalism” in the economic dimension while democracy and liberty have been the core values in the political and social dimension for more than half a century. The number of liberal democracies accordingly increased significantly and they have enjoyed prosperity under the liberal international order. “Liberal internationalism” is, however, often said to face a crisis in recent years. The US also has been said for more than a decade to be declining. Why is “liberal internationalism” said to face a crisis? Or is the US in decline despite the fact the US has accomplished hegemony for more than three decades? What does the crisis imply about American foreign policy and the existing international order? What is the nature of the crisis? Intending to demonstrate major features of American foreign policy after the end of the Cold War, the paper also investigates each foreign policy of William Clinton, George W. Bush, Barak Obama, Donald Trump and Joseph Biden administrations. Although the US had attempted to promote free institutions universally since the end of the Cold War, the US seems to have discarded the universal promotion since the Trump administration scrapped “liberal internationalist” policy and started confronting openly China. Although Biden declared, “the US is back”, it is doubtful whether he can put “liberal internationalism” back in track. Furthermore, Russia’s aggression in Ukraine make it difficult for the Biden administration to cooperate with Russia and China. In short, the paper finds that the US has started to take more limited measures of “liberal internationalism” and more exclusive approaches, which probably intend to exclude illiberal states including China and Russia, than the previous administrations had taken. The paper finally argues that continuing a war against Russia accompanies a risk of going to the Third World War and also of urging Russia to take the Chinese side so that liberal democracies will be forced to confront formidable combination of threats for a long period.</p>