Libertarian foreign policy: Difference between revisions

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* https://twitter.com/JoshuaBailey184/status/1564585917276475392
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As Libertarians, we seek a world of liberty: a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives and are not forced to sacrifice their values for the benefit of others.


We believe that respect for individual rights is the essential precondition for a free and prosperous world, that force and fraud must be banished from human relationships, and that only through freedom can peace and prosperity be realized.


* https://www.econlib.org/archives/2009/04/econlog_book_cl_16.html https://twitter.com/bryan_caplan/status/1511007868157190145
Consequently, we defend each person’s right to engage in any activity that is peaceful and honest, and welcome the diversity that freedom brings. The world we seek to build is one where individuals are free to follow their own dreams in their own ways, without interference from government or any authoritarian power.
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[[Libertarian Party]] National Platform, Preamble ([[LPedia: Document:National Platform 2022#PREAMBLE]])
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One reason US libertarianism is a uniquely US phenomenon is hardline isolationism.


https://web.archive.org/web/20080929134124/http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010344
If you ask a US libertarian about Syria or Ukraine they couldn’t tell you about which party in the war is most inclined to defend liberties, they just say all sides are bad & bitch about taxes


https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB118463507387568429
There is no internationalism in libertarian circles, most US libertarians couldn’t care at all about civil liberties overseas because those aren’t ''our'' people


https://twitter.com/DeTahmineh/status/1573775251380609027
Did you know there are Libertarian Parties in Cuba & Russia? Probably not, because Libertarians here don’t care either


https://web.archive.org/web/20060218084116/http://neolibertarian.net/articles/isolation.aspx ISOLATIONISM IS NOT AN OPTION
Some Ukrainian’s best bet against living under a dictatorship is purchased with US tax dollars? Absolute travesty! Don’t you know there is corruption in Ukraine, therefore I shouldn’t care if their nation is wiped off the face of the Earth, what about inflation?


Bruce McQuain
For all the time Libertarians spent courting conservatives the most they achieved was getting the GOP to share their lack of concern about civil liberties for anyone except Americans


ISOLATIONISM IS NOT AN OPTION
After a while the message becomes clear - US Libertarians do believe in liberty, but only for Americans, and sometimes not even that far, other people don’t matter


Bruce McQuain
And then they wonder why no liberation struggle wants to embrace libertarian ideology!


In the 18th century, Thomas Jefferson famously said that the US should strive for "Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none." Jefferson would probably be keenly disappointed that his advocacy for isolationism has, for the most part, been ignored by subsequent presidents. Still, Jefferson 's dictum has become the lynchpin of present day libertarian and Libertarian Party foreign policy.
If libertarianism is selfishness as principle, then why would anyone want to help someone who promises to not reciprocate?


There are serious defense and security concerns that arise from such a policy today. In Jefferson's day, America was protected by two very wide oceans. Mounting an effective and sustainable invasion of America was beyond the capabilities of the vast majority of nations. Self-defense was relatively easy and inexpensive for the US . In addition, America had and economically self-sufficient, agrarian economy. So, the Jeffersonian approach to foreign policy made some sense then. Today, however, it would be an extremely dangerous way to conduct foreign policy.
A real revolutionary libertarianism would absolutely be internationalist & seek to aid & assist those who would improve civil liberties abroad


Libertarians are often accused of being Jeffersonian isolationists who want the US to withdraw inside its borders, stay out of international relations, refuse entangling alliances, and adopt a policy of non-intervention in others' affairs. But various libertarians such as David Bergland, author of "Libertarianism in One Lesson", claim that in reality "libertarians oppose isolationism". He contends, "Some people mistakenly confuse neutrality and non-intervention with "isolationism."
There were a number of us US libertarians who went independently to Rojava to learn from and support the revolution there since there were small gov’t principles at play there, but there was nothing organized, we were always outnumbered by Marxist & ancom foreign volunteers


Unfortunately, that claim isn't reflected in the Libertarian Party's platform foreign policy plank which describes it in terms of classic isolationism: "The United States government should return to the historic libertarian tradition of avoiding entangling alliances, abstaining totally from foreign quarrels and imperialist adventures, and recognizing the right to unrestricted trade and travel."
How much more could we learn from other anti-statists outside the US if our movement was more willing to do so?


Why then do Neolibertarians eschew this stance on foreign policy? Because the world and America 's role in it has changed dramatically since the 18 th century. Isolationism may have made some sense in a time where wide oceans and limited technology gave a young America an almost insurmountable protective geographic barrier, and the country was both agrarian and self-sufficient. But those conditions no longer apply.
American libertarianism is blind to the hard-won experience of freedom fighters with libertarian principles in Chiapas, Kurdistan, Burma, and elsewhere


Sufficient argument, therefore, can be made on purely pragmatic grounds that isolationism-or its libertarian redefinition as "neutrality and non-intervention"-is an impractical and dangerous a policy today, and that its implicit assumptions rest upon a false premise.
There is no guarantee that America will always be a bastion of liberty forever, and we should support refuges of liberty wherever they arise rather than assume a position of eternal “libertarianism in one country”, to borrow a line from the Stalinists
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[[Joshua Bailey]], [https://twitter.com/JoshuaBailey184/status/1564585917276475392 August 30, 2022]
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The premise, as Bergland states it is that "the globe is covered with governments of sovereign nations each having authority over their own area". He further states that the United States , or any nation, has no right to interfere in the business of another sovereign nation. Per libertarian foreign policy, it's none of our business what another nation does, be it war with a neighbor, extermination of its own people, or any other action which we find unpleasant.
* [[Bryan Caplan]], “[https://www.econlib.org/archives/2009/04/econlog_book_cl_16.html EconLog Book Club: For a New Liberty, Chapter 14]”, “[https://twitter.com/bryan_caplan/status/1511007868157190145 When it comes to his Cold War revisionism, though, Rothbard let his hatred of the U.S. government blind him to the relative benevolence of U.S. foreign policy and the absolute malevolence of the Soviet Union.]”


Such a policy premise holds the sovereignty of nations above the sovereignty and rights of individuals. It places all nations on the same moral plane, be they a democracy or a totalitarian regime. That premise seems to be inconsistent with libertarian philosophy.
* [[Tahmineh Dehbozorgi]], “[https://twitter.com/DeTahmineh/status/1573775251380609027 That’s false. Libertarianism fights for freedom and liberty of all individuals regardless of race, color, sex, nation of origin. Isolationism is because of the Marxist takeover of the libertarian movement. That’s why you never win.]”, September 24, 2022 replying to: "[https://twitter.com/DaliessioVince/status/1573767900443381763 With all due respect, the internal affairs of foreign countries are not within the scope of American libertarians. We believe that normalizing diplomacy and trade will reduce the power the mullahs get from US sanctions and belligerent behavior. The rest is up to the Iranians.]
** [[GrandTurion]], “[https://twitter.com/GrandTurion/status/1574328615436947458 The issue started with Rothbard. That is, both issues started with Rothbard: 1. Claiming that libertarianism implies isolationism, when it does not; 2. Lying about both history and current world events in order to make that isolationism appear less cynical.]”, September 26, 2022


In the libertarian view which Bergland represents, one country's expansion into another country by force of arms would be none of our concern. As a neutral, our only concerns would be peaceful trade and self-defense, with the latter only implemented when the aggressor was actually on our borders.
* [[Murray N. Rothbard]] (criticism of his a priori isolationism, by various libertarian authors)


Thankfully US policy makers eschewed this policy during the Cold War with Soviet Communism, and formed alliances by taking sides with our ideological friends against our ideological enemies. As a result, a threat to our sovereignty and freedom-as well as a threat to the rest of the world-was thwarted. Adopting a self-defeating policy of non-intervention would have allowed the Soviet Union a free hand to pursue its hegemony.
* [[Why I’m ashamed to be a libertarian]] (on [[Russian invasion of Ukraine/US Aid to Ukraine]] from a [[libertarian]] perspective)


Ironically, Bergland characterizes the collapse of the USSR as one of the most important events in our lifetime before launching into a critique of the very interventionist foreign policy principles which led to the collapse. That sort of ideological blindness and unwillingness to rethink its principles has made libertarianism a less attractive alternative to the major parties.
* [[Jan Krepelka]], “[http://laissez-faire.ch/en/blog/real-libertarians-stand-with-taiwan-not-mao-tse-tung-communists/ Real libertarians stand with Taiwan, not Mao Tse Tung’s Communists]”, 2022


Neolibertarians acknowledge the realities of the world today, not the 18 th century. Practical foreign policy in a neolibertarian world includes engagement with like-minded democracies through treaties and alliances. It also encourages peaceful and free trade among those nations. Neolibertarian foreign policy rejects the equal sovereignty premise of traditional libertarian foreign policy and differentiates between free countries and oppressed countries. It also holds as its highest standard the rights of free people, not the 'rights' of nations. Neolibertarians have no problem with condemnation of and, if necessary, intervention in those oppressed countries, if they pose a threat to our nation's security or citizens. Neolibertarian foreign policy also reserves for the US the right to preemptively act against any threat anywhere in the world in the name of national self-defense or critical self-interest.
* [[Jan Krepelka]], “[http://laissez-faire.ch/en/blog/against-urki-libertarianism/ Against Urki Libertarianism]”, 2022


A foreign policy that consists of hiding in the 18th century is both dangerous and impractical. Instead, the Neolibertarian policy is to engage the world proactively in order to maximize liberty and freedom in the 21st century.
* [[Jan Krepelka]], “[http://laissez-faire.ch/en/articles/libertarianism-is-against-aggression/ Libertarianism is against aggression (5 part series)]”, 2022
 
* [[Jan Krepelka]], “[https://laissez-faire.ch/en/articles/agency-denial-is-not-libertarian/ Agency denial is not libertarian]”, 2022
 
* [[Bruce McQuain]], [[Neolibertarianism/Isolationism is Not an Option|Isolationism is Not an Option]]
 
* [[Randy E. Barnett]], [[Libertarian foreign policy/Libertarians and the War: Ron Paul doesn’t speak for all of us|Libertarians and the War: Ron Paul doesn’t speak for all of us]], 2007
 
* [[Libertarian Hawks]]
 
* [[Crowdfunding defense]]

Latest revision as of 10:16, 19 May 2023

“ As Libertarians, we seek a world of liberty: a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives and are not forced to sacrifice their values for the benefit of others.

We believe that respect for individual rights is the essential precondition for a free and prosperous world, that force and fraud must be banished from human relationships, and that only through freedom can peace and prosperity be realized.

Consequently, we defend each person’s right to engage in any activity that is peaceful and honest, and welcome the diversity that freedom brings. The world we seek to build is one where individuals are free to follow their own dreams in their own ways, without interference from government or any authoritarian power.

— Libertarian Party National Platform, Preamble (LPedia: Document:National Platform 2022#PREAMBLE)

“ One reason US libertarianism is a uniquely US phenomenon is hardline isolationism.

If you ask a US libertarian about Syria or Ukraine they couldn’t tell you about which party in the war is most inclined to defend liberties, they just say all sides are bad & bitch about taxes

There is no internationalism in libertarian circles, most US libertarians couldn’t care at all about civil liberties overseas because those aren’t our people

Did you know there are Libertarian Parties in Cuba & Russia? Probably not, because Libertarians here don’t care either

Some Ukrainian’s best bet against living under a dictatorship is purchased with US tax dollars? Absolute travesty! Don’t you know there is corruption in Ukraine, therefore I shouldn’t care if their nation is wiped off the face of the Earth, what about inflation?

For all the time Libertarians spent courting conservatives the most they achieved was getting the GOP to share their lack of concern about civil liberties for anyone except Americans

After a while the message becomes clear - US Libertarians do believe in liberty, but only for Americans, and sometimes not even that far, other people don’t matter

And then they wonder why no liberation struggle wants to embrace libertarian ideology!

If libertarianism is selfishness as principle, then why would anyone want to help someone who promises to not reciprocate?

A real revolutionary libertarianism would absolutely be internationalist & seek to aid & assist those who would improve civil liberties abroad

There were a number of us US libertarians who went independently to Rojava to learn from and support the revolution there since there were small gov’t principles at play there, but there was nothing organized, we were always outnumbered by Marxist & ancom foreign volunteers

How much more could we learn from other anti-statists outside the US if our movement was more willing to do so?

American libertarianism is blind to the hard-won experience of freedom fighters with libertarian principles in Chiapas, Kurdistan, Burma, and elsewhere

There is no guarantee that America will always be a bastion of liberty forever, and we should support refuges of liberty wherever they arise rather than assume a position of eternal “libertarianism in one country”, to borrow a line from the Stalinists

— Joshua Bailey, August 30, 2022
  • Murray N. Rothbard (criticism of his a priori isolationism, by various libertarian authors)
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