European Economy and Institutional Liberalism: Post-War Reconstruction of Ukraine

Abstract

Institutional liberalism, despite the strong criticisms it has received, has emerged as an important hermeneutic theory, especially in the periods of Post-War Reconstruction. The intense activity of the World Bank, the IMF, the EBRD, the UNDP, the European Investment Bank, the BSIC, but also of individual states, Britain, Italy, Poland, and others, in direct cooperation and coordination with international and European organizations for the reconstruction of Ukraine, confirms the explanatory value of institutional liberalism, since the policies of international and European organizations strengthen future expectations, build partnerships and useful connections between actors, and create incentives for further actions. Against the realist version of international relations, where states behave arbitrarily, the logic of post-war reconstruction comes to affirm the social utility of institutional liberalism, with hope for a society of reconciliation and cooperation. European economic integration, a historical product of a long process of cooperation and development, offers, once again, the model of post-war reconstruction.