Liberalism and the invasion of Iraq

 Liberalism and the invasion of Iraq 1
Liberalism theory on the invasion of Iraq-Case Study Analysis
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Liberalism and the invasion of Iraq 2
The invasion of Iraq has become one of the most well-known events of the twenty first
century and this has been mainly as a result of its highly politicised nature. One would suggest
that it came about as a result of a bid by the United States to reassert its position as a global
power as well as to ensure that those entities that were considered to be a direct threat to its
security were subdued. Because of its highly controversial nature and the length of time it
took to not only to bring the war to an end, but also the instability that has gripped Iraq since
the beginning of the invasion, many theories have been brought forward to explain the
invasion and why it had to happen. Among the most prominent is liberalism, which is a theory
that promotes the development of peace at an international level through active cooperation
between the various states within it (Terminski, 2010). This paper seeks to show how
liberalism played a hand in ensuring that the Iraq invasion took place and the reasoning
behind why it was essential for the war to take place as a way of securing American and allied
national interests in the international arena.
Before the 9/11 attacks took place in the United States, the liberal voice in the
international relations has essentially been silenced. This silencing was mainly as a result of
the relative security that this country had enjoyed for a long time and this had ensured that
more conservative voices were given prominence (Brooks and Wohlforth, 2002). Even during
the 2000 presidential debate, the Republican presidential candidate George Bush had scoffed
at the liberal belief that it was necessary to export democracy to those countries in the rest of
the world which had autocratic forms of government. This argument was based on the liberal
belief that the only way through which there could be lasting peace and cooperation between
nations across the world was through ensuring that all of them had adopted democratic
systems which made possible better understanding as well as similar beliefs which would be
difficult to violate. Such arguments did not have much currency among the American elite at
the time and it only came to the foreground after the 9/11 attacks which suddenly shook the 
Liberalism and the invasion of Iraq 3
foundation of domestic security that had been developed within the United States since the
Second World War. The Bush administration took the unprecedented step of shifting its
ideology from a conservative one to an extremely liberal one and this was represented
especially through his declaration of war against the Baath regime in Iraq in a bid to
overthrow it and replace it with a democratic government (Bumiller, 2004). The 9/11 attacks
were committed by individuals whose origins, while not Iraq, came from non-democratic
countries within the region and this created a situation where the liberal opinion was that the
invasion had taken place because these were individuals who came from backgrounds without
freedom. Therefore, the Iraq invasion was based on the belief that the best way to counter any
further terrorist attacks would be through ensuring that a strong democracy was developed in
Iraq and this would serve as an example for other autocratic countries in the Middle Eastern
region.
Among the most critical philosophies of liberalism, especially the democratic peace
theory, in international relations is that there is need for democracy throughout the globe to
ensure that there is lasting peace and cooperation between all the nations within it. This is
especially the case where it is believed that those countries that are democratic and share the
same ideals are less likely to fight one another and this is a guarantee for lasting peace
(Gleditsch, 1992). Therefore, a motivation for the invasion of Iraq was to ensure that a regime
that was hostile to the interests of the United States and its allies, all democratic countries,
was overthrown to be replaced with one that shared the same ideals as the invaders. As one of
the most authoritarian states in the world in the period before the American led invasion, Iraq
was believed to be a symbol of what a country without any democratic ideals would end up
becoming. Thus, the Iraq invasion can be considered to have been a means of showing that
despite the 9/11 attacks having taken place, the United States and its allies still had the ability
to project their power across the globe and that any threat that was brought against them either 
Liberalism and the invasion of Iraq 4
by authoritarian regimes or by terrorist organisations would be swiftly repulsed. It was
through the Iraqi invasion that the United States was able to show its people that it was still
able to protect them against any