Navigating world order: neoliberalism between nationalism and cosmopolitanism

ABSTRACT

Through a morphological analysis of early neoliberal discourse, it is argued that preserving the system of states became integral to neoliberalism after a period of contestation. It is common knowledge that the early neoliberals thought of economic nationalism as an archaic practice. But it is less well known that they also learned to dread institutional cosmopolitanism. The first cohort of neoliberal theorists, despite displaying cosmopolitan propensities economically and morally, decided during the 1940s to abandon the cosmopolitan political principles that several early institutional designs had followed. The neoliberals realized that nationalism had an upside. Their reasoning was pragmatic rather than democratic. A cosmopolitan world order, with a central democratic decision-making body – such as a world government answerable to a world parliament elected by the world populace – would more likely than not be anathema to their primary project; creating a world economy for entrepreneurs. Hence, they finally embraced borders.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

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6. Slobodian, Globalists, op. cit., Ref. 1, p. 122.

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12. Freeden, ibid. p. 77.

13. See: Freeden, ibid. p. 76.

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34. Wynner and Lloyd, ibid., p. 18.

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73. Mises, ibid., p. 63.

74. Mises, ibid., p. 64, added emphasis.

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81. Mises, ibid., p. 65.

82. See also: Slobodian, Globalists, op. cit., Ref. 1, p. 95.

83. Ludwig von Mises, Liberalism. In the Classical Tradition. Third Edition (Irvington-on-Hudson, NY: The Foundation for Economic Education, Inc., 1985). Originally published as Liberalismus in 1927.

84. Mises, ibid., pp. 109–110.

85. Mises, ibid., p. 107.

86. Mises, ibid., p. 107.

87. Mises, ibid., p. 113.

88. Mises, ibid., pp. 137–138.

89. Mises, ibid., p. 143.

90. Mises, ibid., p. 144.

91. Mises, ibid., p. 148.

92. Mises, ibid., p. 150.

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95. Mises, ibid., p. 243.

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98. Mises, ibid., p. 246.

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107. ‘Globalism’ is here a US foreign policy doctrine developed during World War II that has been described as ‘American nationalist globalism’. John Fousek, To Lead the Free World. American Nationalism & the Cultural Roots of the Cold War (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2000), p. 7. See also: Patrick J. Hearden, Architects of Globalism. Building a New World Order during World War II (Fayetteville: The University of Arkansas Press, 2002).

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110. Steel, ibid., p. 407.

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139. Hayek, ibid., p. 268, added emphasis.

140. Hayek, ibid., p. 269.

141. Hayek, ibid., p. 271.

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152. Hayek, ibid., p. 234.

153. Hayek, ibid., p. 234.

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157. F. A. Hayek, ‘Opening address to a conference at Mont Pélèrin’ in F. A. Hayek, Studies in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1967), pp. 148–159.

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159. Hayek, ibid., p. 153.

160. Hayek, ibid., pp. 154–155.

161. Hayek, ibid., p. 155.

162. Hayek, ibid., p. 155.

163. Hayek, ibid., p. 156.