Internationalism - a key Liberal Democrat value
The Liberal Democrats are an internationalist party. Our outlook is embodied in the preamble to our party constitution, which you can read online here: http://www.libdems.org.uk/constitution. The preamble ends with the following words:
"Our responsibility for justice and liberty cannot be confined by national boundaries; we are committed to fight poverty, oppression, hunger, ignorance, disease and aggression wherever they occur and to promote the free movement of ideas, people, goods and services. Setting aside national sovereignty when necessary, we will work with other countries towards an equitable and peaceful international order and a durable system of common security. Within the European Community we affirm the values of federalism and integration and work for unity based on these principles. We will contribute to the process of peace and disarmament, the elimination of world poverty and the collective safeguarding of democracy by playing a full and constructive role in international organisations which share similar aims and objectives. These are the conditions of liberty and social justice which it is the responsibility of each citizen and the duty of the state to protect and enlarge. The Liberal Democrats consist of women and men working together for the achievement of these aims."
This stance has been summed up by academic David John Manning, as follows:
"Liberals have never seen the threats to the way of life of which they approve as being a purely national concern. Although there is no such thing as universal liberalism, in the sense that it has one theme throughout, it is an internationalist and international doctrine."
This internationalist outlook drives our conviction that the United Kingdom needs to remain in the European Union. We believe that we are stronger working with, and alongside, other countries than we could ever be in isolation.
Sources:
* The preamble to the Liberal Democrats constitution: http://www.libdems.org.uk/constitution
** David John Manning, Liberalism (1976), quoted in The Dictionary of Liberal Quotations, ed. Duncan Brack