The Epistemological Challenge of Truth Subversion to the Liberal International Order

Abstract Truth-subversion practices, which populist leaders utilize for political domination, are a significant source of current pressure on the Liberal International Order (LIO). practices include false speak (flagrant lying to subvert concept facts), double (intentional internal contradictions in speech erode reason), and flooding (the emission many messages into public domain create confusion). Aiming destroy liberal truth ideals subversion weakens epistemological security; that is, experience orderliness safety results from people's institutions’ shared understandings their common-sense reality. It privileges baseless claims over fact-based opinions, thus creating communities like-minded between communication becomes impossible. Truth challenges LIO's three key institutions: democracy, markets, multilateralism. If truth-subversion prevail, societal polarization, inaccurate information, emotional inflaming strain democracy human rights protections. Markets depend functioning accurate information can falter, multilateralism relies reasoned consensus decay. relations (IR) scholarship has recognized knowledge production as feature underlying LIO, but not yet identified those threat LIO. We discuss what discipline do alleviate its blind spots.