Introduction: Making liberal internationalism great again?
| Author | Ole Jacob Sending,Rita Abrahamsen,Louise Riis Andersen |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020702019827050 |
| Date | 01 March 2019 |
| Published date | 01 March 2019 |
| Subject Matter | Scholarly Essays |
Scholarly Essay
Introduction: Making
liberal internationalism
great again?
Rita Abrahamsen
University of Ottawa, Canada
Louise Riis Andersen
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS), Denmark
Ole Jacob Sending
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), Norway
Abstract
At a time when liberal internationalism and institutions of multilateral cooperation are
being dealt almost daily blows, this special issue revisits the notion and practice of
middle power liberal internationalism. The introduction suggests that while liberal inter-
nationalism is far from dead, the challenges are serious and multiple. Reflecting on the
seven essays contained in the volume, it argues that the biggest challenge for a future
liberal internationalism is not to double-down on its normative virtues, but critically to
reflect on how it can be retooled to respond to new challenges.
Keywords
World order, liberal internationalism, middle powers, middle power liberal internation-
alism, multilateralism
At a time when liberal internationalism and institutions of multilateral cooperation
are being dealt almost daily blows, foreign policy establishments on both sides of
the Atlantic are expressing ever-louder concerns for the vanishing world order.
1
International Journal
2019, Vol. 74(1) 5–14
!The Author(s) 2019
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DOI: 10.1177/0020702019827050
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Corresponding author:
Rita Abrahamsen, University of Ottawa, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, 120 University
Private, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5, Canada.
Email: rita.abrahamsen@uottawa.ca
1. Anthony Dawkin and Mark Leonard, ‘‘Can Europe save the world order?’’ European Council on
Foreign Relations, May 2018, https://www.ecfr.eu/page/-/can_europe_save_the_world_order.pdf
(accessed 25 September 2018); G. John Ikenberry, ‘‘The plot against American foreign policy,’’
Foreign Affairs, May/June 2017, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2017-04-17/
plot-against-american-foreign-policy (accessed 24 September 2018); Robert Kagan, ‘‘The twilight of
the liberal world order,’’ Brookings, 24 January 2017, https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-
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