Description: What distinguishes liberal democracies from other types of regimes? How do these distinctions affect foreign policy? Unlike other books on democratization and economic reform, Liberalization and Foreign Policy covers both economic and political liberalization in nine essays by preeminent scholars who illuminate a new agenda in international relations.

The book takes as its subject the global wave of political liberalization that has arisen since the mid-1970s and the even wider trend toward liberal economic policies in the 1980s.

Filling the intellectual gap left by neorealism, which has failed to address such upheavals as the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Liberalization and Foreign Policy discusses how the foreign policy effects of liberalization support new democratic regimes and help launch economic reforms -- but do not guarantee full democratization.

The authors first discuss how democracies engage in foreign policies that are vastly different from those of other regimes. Next they compare transitional or liberalizing democracies in Spain, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa to established democracies like the United States. Finally, they clarify a noteworthy outcome of economic liberalization: the strategies of collaboration within international institutions such as the European Community and NATO.

With its focus on the vital links between democratization, economic reforms, and foreign policy, this book is indispensable for scholars and students of international relations.

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