Realism in International Relations: A Comprehensive Overview, Assignments of International Relations

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International Relations

 Realism

““Theory!Theory!

A word to strike fear into the hearts of IR teachers and students alike… It’s going to be complicated – I’ll never understand it… It’s complicated – how can I teach it so they’ll grasp it? However, as with everything in life, theory is as complicated as you want to make it. And as with most things, if you understand the basics, it’s much easier to grasp the harder bits… And besides – IR theory is Important Important. If we grasp the theory behind something, everything else is much easier to understand…

Theory is NOT:  Correlation  Description  Interpretation  Absence of data  Ideology

Why theories?  (^) Purpose of theories in international relations:  (^) Positivism : Explain and predict by reducing the complexity of reality (examples: Neorealism, Institutionalism).  Normativism : Challenge realism with reference to normative standpoints/values and develop strategies of fundamental global change (examples: Feminism and gender equality; Marxism and class struggle; Idealism and human rights).

Perspectives

 What do perspectives do?

• (^) They help us reduce complexity and choose a specific lens
• (^) Understand how leaders think
• (^) Identify the primary causes of conflict

Theories

 Realism: power struggles among states; solution: balance of power  Institutionalism: self-interested cooperation among states; solution: regimes based on shared interests  Constructivism (idealism, identity perspective): differences in identities; solution: shared norms

begins with the idealist writers’ claims of inter-war period (1919-1939). According to realists, the inter-war scholars’ approach was flawed, for example they ignored the role of power and overestimated the degree to which human beings were rational. Realism rose from the ashes of idealist approach.

a great debate took place in 1930s & 1940s between the inter-war idealists and realists namely E.H. Carr, Hans Morgenthau, Reinhold Niebuhr, Frederick Schuman, George Kennan etc. who all emphasized the primacy of power and the competitive nature of politics among nations.

Key Propositions of Realism The state as the key actor in international politics States must pursue power to perpetuate the life of the state in a hostile and threatening environment Skeptical of the idea that universal moral principles exist 3 Ss= Statism - Survival - Self-help Distinction between domestic and international politics

International Politics

1. “international politics, like all politics, is a struggle for power” (Morgenthau 1948:25)
2. Realists argue that the basic structure of international politics is one of anarchy in that each of the independent sovereign states consider themselves to be their own highest authority and do not recognize a higher power above them.

Classical Realism: key arguments

1. International politics driven by an endless struggle for power which has roots in human nature
2. The ultimate skill of the state leader is to accept, and adopt to, the changing power political configurations in world politics
3. Politics is governed by laws that are created by human nature.
4. The mechanism we use to understand international politics is through the concept of interests, defined in terms of power

Structural Realism: key thinkers & texts

1. Rousseau (c.1750) The State of War
2. Waltz (1979) Theory of International Politics
3. Mearsheimer (2001) Tragedy of Great Power Politics

Key Points (1)

• (^) Statism is the centerpiece of Realism.
• (^) State is the pre-eminent actor in world politics
• (^) Sovereignty signifies the existence of an independent political community , one which has juridical authority over its territory

Key Points (1)  Criticism:  1-Statism is flawed both on empirical (challenges to state power) and  2- normative grounds (the inability of sovereign states to respond to collective global problems)