Essential reading for those keen to understand the prospects for 21st-century geopolitics and possible compromises facing the West
follows twin tracks, theory and practice. As a point of theoretical departure, the author describes the traditional dichotomy in international relations, between realists and liberal idealists, or between Hobbesian and Kantian approaches, respectively. He finds a degree of synthesis in the natural-law jurisprudence of Grotius and Locke, that is the application of the concept of natural law to international relations, such as that of a “just war”.
By way of practical applications, Tucker treats in turn the global monetary, trade, investment and financial system. These deep dives cover, respectively, the International Monetary Fund, the WTO, preferential trade and investment treaties, and the Basel-based Bank of International Settlements. What is missing, however, is a deeper consideration of the global security apparatus, whether the workings of the United Nations Security Council or military alliances like Nato.
The West should remain open to co-operation, Tucker argues, including with powers steeped in values alien to our own while refusing to take “excessive risks with order and legitimacy back home”. We cannot acquiesce to any international regime that could jeopardize our core values of rule of law, democracy and constitutionalism: “theof our way of life”. The Brexit referendum is cited as an example of the “tug of war” between elite and popular opinion around political legitimacy.
In essence, in the absence of a hegemon or balance of power, there is a need for a stable self-enforcing equilibrium based on shared norms, internalised via well-designed — and reformed — international institutions. To function and endure, such an equilibrium must “be regarded as legitimate by sufficient of the population of states, and bypowers”. Thus, the West cannot presume to impose its norms and values on China and expect a stable world order.
Importantly, Tucker does not present the challenge as a clash of civilizations along the lines of Samuel P Huntington. We should not mistake China’s ruling Communist Party for Chinese, let alone Asian, civilization. The author points to the shared Confucian heritage of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, all functioning liberal democracies. Thus, the conclusion is one of cautious optimism.
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