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Reassessing the Crisis: Ecology and Liberal International Relations

Geopolitics has long been associated with material factors, but theories of international relations continue to evade questions about ecological degradation and declining natural resources. One important point of intersection is the relationship between liberalism and natural abundance/scarcity. There are grounds to suggest that liberal ideas and revolutions owe their emergence and endurance to ecological abundance, particularly in the form of immense stores of solar energy in fossil fuels: such fuels have literally powered the modern liberal project. Some ecological thinkers argue that humanity, or “civilization,” is soon to face massive ecological, economic, and social decline as a result of declining resources, but it is difficult to picture just what “collapse” might entail in political terms. This article examines the prospect that what many see as the current decline of liberalism may in fact be a manifestation of ecologically induced collapse, especially due to the limit to growth represented by “peak oil.” It concludes with consideration of the merits of a more ecological perspective on our political existence.