Thread by @tparsi

MUST READ by @globalsarang: Liberal internationalism - or more accurately, American primacy - is not the answer to the challenges of our time, but one of the causes of it.

A response to Deudney & Ikenberry's critique of Restraint and the Quincy Coalition
responsiblestatecraft.org/2021/08/04/cal…

American primacy’s stress on democracy lacks credibility. Washington is militant on violations of rights by its geopolitical adversaries. But when it comes to U.S. allies and partners in the Global South, they rarely go beyond nudges and occasional slaps on the wrist. >>

Democracy and human rights are only of marginal importance in the liberal primacy project, except when they can act as force-multipliers in the great power competition framework. >>

Restrainers genuinely support democracy by directing the US to perfect its own model at home so that it can lead by example. Restrainers also have a well-founded suspicion of the true motives of any power claiming to act out of altruism>>

A key point: Liberal primacy is also less than international, with its continuing Euro- and Global North-centric tendencies. Alternative internationalisms include those from the Global South, where most of humanity lives. They don't seem to count though... >>

Liberal primacists, either ignore or oppose other internationalism thereby revealing their own paradox – while democracy is backed at home, a diversity of ideologies across states is distinctly unwelcome. >>

"Liberal primacy, at best, is mostly a status-quoist ideology that is likely to only compound emerging global challenges. At worst, it is a thin veneer over a deeper intent of perpetuating unipolarity for its own sake."