The Pandemic and the Transformation of Liberal International Order
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The Pandemic and the Transformation of Liberal International Order Qingming Huang 1 Accepted: 11 September 2020/ # Journal of Chinese Political Science/Association of Chinese Political Studies 2020
Abstract In 2018, 43 leading International Relations scholars in the United States signed a public statement in support of an urgent call to preserve the current international order, triggering heated scholarly debates. The idealized form of the liberal international order was criticized by many scholars for its chronic problems, including the contradictions between proclaimed liberal values and illiberal behaviors, the inability to reform its institutional pillars to accommodate the diverse group of emerging powers, and the tensions between the defenders of this order and its challengers. These problems became fully exposed under the external shock caused by the coronavirus pandemic. As the coronavirus spreads globally and disrupts the world’s political, economic, and social fabric, several forces that have gained momentum and strength during the last decade are now converging as a formidable force that may reconfigure the postpandemic international order. This paper addresses three significant challenges to the foundations of the current liberal order: (1) the entrenchment of authoritarianism, characterized by authoritarian resilience, autocratization, and the consolidation of competing authoritarian political-economic models; (2) the exacerbation of nationalism enabled by nationalist and populist politicians; and (3) the intensified competition among major powers. China has played mixed roles in the process of reconfiguring the current order. It challenges the mythologized liberal international order and exposes the contradictions in the dominant Western model, while promoting an alternative hybrid political-economic model. The shock brought by the pandemic has provided ample opportunities for China to extend its networks and expand international space for its model. Keywords Liberal international order . authoritarianism . nationalism . pandemic .
transformation
* Qingming Huang [email protected]
1
Department of Political Science, University of Florida, Gainesville FL 32603 USA
Q. Huang
Introduction Two years ago, 43 leading International Relations (IR) scholars in the United States signed a public statement in support of an urgent call to preserve the current international order,1 triggering heated debates among IR scholars. In the statement, prominent IR scholars reiterated the benefits provided by the liberal international order after the Second World War, including economic stability and prosperity, as well as international security and peace. They warned against the potential destruction that American President Donald Trump would bring and the chaos that could ensue in the international arena. Conversely, other scholars noted the limitations of the often-idealized liberal international order and the troubles associated with its major institutional pillars [1, 2]. Critics suggest that, by treating the potent
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