Liberalism and War

Reviews / Votes

At a time when the so-called liberal international order seems to be under threat and shrinking like a peau de chagrin, this book on Liberalism and War could not be more timely. While Putin's Russia is waging a war of aggression against Ukraine, and China is challenging the underpinnings of the 'liberal West', Andrew Williams injects some much-needed realistic optimism into debates about liberalism. Through a combined intellectual and diplomatic history of liberal peace-making from the 19th century to the present, he makes a convincing case for the resilience, endurance, and continued relevance of liberalism. Based on extensive original research and firmly embedded in theoretical debates, this book could only have been written by such an exceptional scholar as Williams, who brilliantly navigates between and combines History and International Relations.

Marco Wyss, Professor of International History and Security, Lancaster University

Liberalism and War was a prescient tour de force when it was first published nearly twenty years ago. At that time, even despite the looming problems of peacebuilding across the world, as well as of liberal interventionism in Afghanistan and Iraq, it was rare that a scholar had the breadth or depth of analysis to be able to cast a calm and lucid eye over the then emerging evidence. Rereading this new edition in the light of the events of the last twenty years or so offers a chilling reminder that the signs of the collapse of the grand project to end war, which interested many scholars and policymakers during the twentieth century, were already present. Williams was sounding the alarm, and yet such critiques were ignored - until it was perhaps too late - as the continuing relevance of this updated and brilliant study illustrate.

Oliver Richmond, Research Professor of IR, Conflict and Peace Studies, University of Manchester.

In equal parts, this important volume combines history and theory to analyze the career of international liberalism from the nineteenth century to today. As the case with his previous books, Professor Andrew Williams is here elegant, incisive, and wide ranging. Long viewed as an expert guide for the perplexed, Williams here steers his readers through a maze of conceptual matters and key historical moments, understanding of which is made even more urgent by the twenty-first century's crush of emergencies. Both specialized scholars and the reading public will benefit as they follow Williams's judicious handling of questions centered on war, diplomacy, reconstruction, international organizations, reparations, and rival versions of justice. The book is marked by a command of diverse literatures, rich archival materials, and clarity of thought-a pleasure to read and ponder.

David Mayers, Professor History Department, Political Science Department, Boston University

The study of international relations without history is arid. Andrew Williams is both IR theorist and international historian. In this book he explores the complexities of liberalism as it developed from the nineteenth century in relation to the international sphere. He focuses particularly on how the leading liberal powers saw their principles applying in the context of major conflicts coming to an end during the twentieth century and up to the present, using reparations, reconstruction, retributive justice and restorative justice as his lenses. At a time when Western ascendancy is coming to an end, we gain a superb insight into how liberalism has played out in world politics.

Derek McDougall, Professorial Fellow in Political Science, University of Melbourne

What I love about Andrew Williams' revised edition of Liberalism and War is the way it brings the story right up to the current debate about 'reconstructing' Ukraine. The book shows how the challenges posed by the relationship between liberalism and war remain with us, even as it places them in an illuminating historical context.

Andrew Gawthorpe, University Lecturer, Institute for History, Leiden University.