F.A. Hayek and the Reinvention of Liberal Internationalism

Abstract

Between the late 1930s and the mid-1940s, F.A. Hayek became involved in two parallel and partly intertwined debates that shaped the intellectual and political milieu in Britain at the time: one about capitalism and the role of economic planning, the other about the causes of war and the future of international order. This article considers Hayek's international thought as part of his wider effort to provide a comprehensive restatement of nineteenth-century liberalism. It examines the character and development of his conception of international order, and specifically focuses on the ideological and institutional context in which it emerged. Moreover, the article considers the international implications of Hayek's later thought and traces the lineage of his liberal internationalism back to Henry Sidgwick and his justification of liberal imperialism. The article concludes by locating Hayek's liberal economic internationalism within the field of inter-war international thought and by offering a brief assessment of his contributions to international relations.