Pseudo Split of the Liberal World in the Aftermath of the Iraqi War

Abstract

The Iraqi War has evinced a split over security concerns in the liberal world: US military force based upon unilateralism versus Europe’s multilateralism which emphasizes international law and organizations. Since the end of the Cold War, US unilateralism had been subject to criticisms but for the first time the Iraqi war revealed an explicit European based reaction to this. With reference to international relations theory and to the historical background of Transatlantic relations, this article argues that rather than labeling this crisis as a polarization within the North Atlantic security community, this split within the liberal world should better be analyzed as a temporary and pseudo split. This is because the parties to the conflict would likely limit their insistence upon their policy considerations.

Keywords

Unilateralism, Hegemony, International Security, Iraqi War, North Atlantic Alliance

Citation

Özdikmenli, İlkim and Ovalı, Şevket, “Pseudo Split of the Liberal World in the Aftermath of the Iraqi War”, International Relations, Volume 5, Issue 19 (Fall 2008), pp. 89-118.

Affiliations

• İlkim Özdikmenli, Research Assistant, Dokuz Eylül University, Department of International Relations
• Şevket Ovalı, Assistant Professor Dr., Dokuz Eylül University, Department of International Relations