Problems in Viewing China’s Rise as a Threat to the Liberal International Order

Speaker: Professor Charles Glaser (George Washington University)

Date: 5 September 2019

Speaker Session Preview

SMA hosted a speaker session presented by Prof. Charles Glaser (George Washington University) as a part of its SMA Minerva Speaker Series. 

During his brief, Prof. Glaser discussed his project for the Minerva Research Institute focused on the liberal international order (LIO) and tools of influence. He first defined the international order as the “institutions and rules that guide the states that belong to the order.” He then defined the LIO as a construct created by the US after World War II that includes NATO, alliances, an open international trading system, key international financial institutions, and the UN. Often times, the LIO is used more broadly to include norms requiring the protection of human rights, norms regarding the protection and (possible) spread of democracy, regional trade agreements, etc. This inconsistent usage often generates confusion. Prof. Glaser then explained what is at stake in LIO discourse—international relations theorists and policy analysts believe that the LIO has produced valuable outcomes, such as peace following the Cold War and US victory, NATO cohesion, and a lack of balancing against the US after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The key issue, however, is whether these outcomes are products of the joint impact of the LIO’s components as a whole or the individual parts themselves. Prof. Glaser stated that if it is the latter, the LIO framing offers little insight and can both mislead analysis of US policy and exaggerate the threat that China poses to the US. Next, Prof. Glaser defined the LIO concept—a term he created. The LIO concept concerns the logistics/mechanism that underpins claims about the LIO’s explanatory power and includes democracy, hierarchy, institutional binding, economic interdependence, and political convergence. After speaking about each of these components, he identified a series of problems with the LIO concept, including that it is inward-looking and suffers crippling logical flaws regarding institutional binding, hierarchy, and political convergence. To conclude, Prof. Glaser stated that the individual components of the LIO, but not the LIO framing as a whole, have explanatory value. He also identified a series of bottom lines and policy implications, including: 1) The LIO discourse clouds/distorts analysis of US policy; 2) Reframing analysis of US policy in terms of grand strategy would encourage revisiting of basic questions; and 3) Preserving the order takes these questions off the table.

Speaker Session Audio File

Briefing Materials

Biography:

Charles L. Glaser is a Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University.  He was the Founding Director of the Elliott School’s Institute for Security and Conflict Studies from 2009-2019. His research focuses on international relations theory, including the security dilemma, defensive realism, and arms races; and on international security policy, including U.S. policy toward China, energy security, and U.S. nuclear weapons policy.  Professor Glaser holds a Ph.D. from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, a B.S. in Physics from MIT, and an M.A. in Physics and M.P.P. from Harvard. Before joining George Washington University, Professor Glaser was the Emmett Dedmon Professor of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. His books include Rational Theory of International Politics (2010) and Analyzing Strategic Nuclear Policy (1990).   In 2018 he was award the International Studies Association, Security Studies Section, Distinguished Scholar Award for lifetime achievement in research and mentoring. 

The SMA Minerva Speaker Series description and list of the other sessions in this series can be downloaded here.