A MISGUIDED FOREIGN POLICY How liberal interventionism backfires on the liberal international order.

Abstract

This thesis explores in what ways liberal interventionism has backfired on the liberal international order (LIO) by analysing the 2011 Libya intervention, the Syrian civil war and the 2013-2014 Ukraine crises. The research problem concerns the debate on how the LIO is challenged. The study contributes to that debate by bringing liberal interventionism into the equation. The research question is: in what ways has liberal interventionism backfired in Libya, Syria and Ukraine? I develop a theoretical proposition to analyse the cases. It states that liberal interventionism backfires on two notions of the LIO – the UN security structure principles of sovereignty and the authority of the UN Security Council (UNSC). This is because of three reasons that are formulated in three thematic claims. Firstly, liberal interventionism disrupts peace and order, the principle of sovereignty and UNSC authority. Secondly, it backfires on liberalism by actively promoting liberal values. Thirdly, it hurts the legitimacy of the LIO by having illiberal elements. The theoretical proposition is applied in a theory testing case analysis that is followed by a comparative analysis of cross-case variables and outcomes as according to the positive method of agreement. The conclusion is that liberal interventionism in Libya, Syria and Ukraine has backfired in the ways expected by the thematic claims, indicating that the theoretical proposition is applicable, relevant and useful as tool to explain how liberal interventionism backfires.