Although liberalism does not assume that war is illusory, at least it defines the
nature of international relations as a sequence of cooperation and conflict, not only as a conflictual process as Realists do. As such, in contrast to the realist perspective, liberalism takes a different stance on the role of IOs in world affairs. Since liberalism underlines the importance of cooperation between states, naturally this approach attributes a greater prominence to international organizations and considers them as essential actors of International Relations. In that respect, IOs are regarded as the “early institutions of world government.” IOs serve as a platform for states to cooperate and they provide with states and other non-state actors a formal set of rules that are necessary for managing international affairs. In this regard, IOs serve to the common good of all participating states rather than to the interests of a single most powerful state. It is believed that states choose to cooperate through international organizations, because they help to reduce the costs of managing international affairs for nation states. Therefore, states most of the time prefer to act in
line with the institutional structure of international organizations.