Roland Paris’ten Liberal Barış Eleştirilerinin Eleştirisi

Soğuk Savaş sonrası uluslararası ortamda çatışma yaşayan toplumlara demokrasi, siyasi ve ekonomik liberalizm ile serbest piyasa ekonomisini benimsetmeye çalışan liberal barış inşası birçok sorunu (azgelişmişlik ve kıtlıktan hastalık, çevresel bozulma ve şiddetli çatışmalara kadar geniş bir yelpazedeki sosyal, politik ve ekonomik sorunlar) çözmenin anahtarı olarak görülmüştür. Bu dönemde rekor sayıda ülke seçimler yapmış ve dünyanın önde gelen uluslararası kuruluşlarında liberal hükümet biçimlerine (seçim fikrine, hükümet gücü üzerindeki anayasal sınırlamalara, medeni ve siyasi haklara saygıya) daha açık olan ve bunları destekleyen geniş bir ideolojik kayma gerçekleşmiştir. 1950’ler ve 1960’lardaki modernleşme teorisyenlerine benzer şekilde, 1990'larda barış inşası uygulayıcıları, ‘tüm iyi şeylerin bir arada yürüdüğünü’, demokratikleşme ve piyasalaştırmanın birbirini güçlendirdiğini ve bu süreçler bir kez başlatıldığında, büyük ölçüde kendi kendini devam ettireceklerini düşünmüşlerdir. Ancak son dönemlerde liberal barış inşası önemli eleştirilerin hedefi haline gelmiştir. Bu eleştirilerin çoğu haklı olmakla birlikte, bazı bilim insanları ve yorumcular, liberal barış inşasının ya temelde yıkıcı ya da meşruiyetten yoksun ya da hem yıkıcı hem de meşruiyetten yoksun olduğu görüşündedir. Bununla birlikte, Paris’e (2010) göre yakından analiz edildiğinde, bu eleştirilerin çoğunun yanlış yönlendirildiği ve abartılı olduğu görülmektedir. Barış inşasının geleceğinin belirsiz olduğu bir zamanda, haklı ve haksız eleştiriler arasında ayrım yapmak ve liberalizmin anlamı, eksiklikleri ve beklentileri hakkında daha fazla tartışmayı teşvik etmek önem taşımaktadır. Bu çerçevede bu çalışma, Paris’in ‘Saving Liberal Peacebuilding’ adlı çalışmasından yola çıkarak liberal barış inşasına yönelik eleştirilere daha yakından bakma ve Paris’in gözünden bu eleştirilere cevap verme amacı taşımaktadır.

Critique from Roland Paris to the Criticisms of Liberal Peace

Liberal peacebuilding, which tries to impose democracy, political and economic liberalism and free market economy in the conflict societies in the post-Cold War international environment, was seen as the key to solving many problems (a wide range of social, political and economic problems from underdevelopment and famine to disease, environmental degradation and violent conflict). A record number of countries held elections during this period, and there was a broad ideological shift in the world’s leading international organizations that were more open to and supportive of liberal forms of government (the idea of election, constitutional limitations on government power, respect for civil and political rights). Similar to the modernization theorists of the 1950s and 1960s, peacebuilding practitioners in the 1990s thought that ‘all good things go together’, that democratization and marketization reinforce each other, and that these processes, once initiated, are largely self-sustaining. However, liberal peacebuilding has recently become the target of significant criticisms. While much of this criticisms are justified, some scholars and commentators view liberal peacebuilding as either fundamentally destructive or illegitimate, or both destructive and illegitimate. However, when analyzed closely according to Paris (2010), many of these criticisms appear to be misguided and exaggerated. At a time when the future of peacebuilding is uncertain, it is important to distinguish between just and unjust critiques and to encourage further discussion about the meaning, shortcomings and prospects of liberalism. In this context, this study aims to take a closer look at the criticisms of liberal peacebuilding based on Paris’s “Saving Liberal Peacebuilding” and to respond to these criticisms from the perspective of Paris.

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