From ‘Westlessness’ to renewal of the liberal international order: whose vision for the ‘good life’ will matter?

Abstract

The concept ‘Westlessness’ suggests that the liberal international order (LIO) is in crisis because there is today ‘less West’ in the world, and the West is itself becoming less Western. The article asks if, and if so how, the LIO can remain resilient and salient in the face of growing ‘Westlessness’ and contestations against the liberal order’s values and institutions. It suggests that the big challenges will be for the LIO to adapt to give the order a broader appeal than is currently the case, whilst doing so without losing what is understood to be the essence of the LIO. The article suggests that this may be possible through a focus on visions for the good life as ‘trading zones’ in which dissimilar groups can find common ground whilst simultaneously disagreeing on their general outlook. However, the approach necessitates acceptance that perhaps the LIO has for too long been characterised by ‘Westfulness’ and that ‘less West’ in the world could be a step towards a more inclusive international order with space for different visions for the good life.

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank Elena Korosteleva and Irina Petrova for their comments and support in the development of this article. Also thanks to the three anonymous reviewers for their comments on earlier versions of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the GCRF-funded COMPASS project ‘Comprehensive Capacity-Building in the Eastern Neighbourhood and Central Asia: research integration, impact governance and sustainable communities’ (ES/P010849/1).

Notes on contributors

Trine Flockhart

Trine Flockhart is Professor of International Relations and Director of the Center for War Studies (Policy and external affairs) at the University of Southern Denmark. Her research focuses on international order and transformational change, NATO, European Security, the liberal international order (and its crisis), resilience and transatlantic relations. Email: [email protected]