Transcript power

IPT, L4:
Realism (2)
Shunji Cui
Department of Political Science
School of Public Affairs
Zhejiang University
Email: [email protected]
Contents:

Morgenthau & Political Realism

Power Politics: Theory
 Power Politics: in Practice

Waltz & Neorealism

Systemic Theory
 Implications for ir
Realism: KEY ASSUMPTIONS








States are the principal or most important actors (IR is the
study of relations among these units). Hence, the notion of
‘international system of states’
State as a unitary actor (an integrated unit)
State as a rational actor (rationality: end-means relationship)
Distinction between ‘high’ and ‘low politics’
National Security as the most important issue for states
Central role of power in politics of all kinds --- also the
limitations of power
Sensitive to ethical dilemmas and its practical implications
National interests – also shared interests (of community)
and persuasion
Intellectual Roots

Thucydides: History of the Peloponnesian War
(‘The Melian Dialogue’)
 ‘The
standard of justice depends on the equality of
power to compel and that in fact the strong do what
they have power to do, and the weak accept what
they have to accept’ .

Machiavelli(1469-1527): The Prince
 ‘it
is much safer to be feared than to be loved, if one
must choose’.

Hobbes(1588-1679): Leviathan
 In
the absence of a sovereign authority, life of the
individual is ‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short’.
Morgenthau’s notion of power politics

Morgenthau’s prime purpose：
of IP should meet a dual test –
empirical & logical.
 theory

我们需要研究we need to undersand：
both Morgenthau’s theoretical ground of
power politics and his approach of
practice of power (FP).
1. Theoretical Ground
2. Foreign Policy
(1) Theoretical grounds
The concept of interest defined in terms of power
Utopianism:
believes a rational and
moral political order,
derived from universally
valid abstract principles,
can be achieved by
conscious political action.
assumes the essential
goodness of human
nature, and blames the
failure of the social order
to measure up the
rational standards.
Morgenthau:
seeks to understand
international politics as the
result of forces inherent in
human nature, hence to
improve the world one must
work with those forces, not
against them.
believes that power politics
could not be transcended,
but at best it might be made
to serve rational ends.需
谨慎受用武力
Morgenthau: PAN, 6 principles
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Politics is governed by its own inherent laws, rooted in human
nature人性是政治本源
Key signpost for study of international politics: ‘interest defined in
terms of power’ 权力定义利益—立标
‘interest defined as power’ is an objectively valid category, but the
meanings of both ‘interest’ and ‘power’ will vary historically – in
post WW2 context the implication is balance of power politics 权力
定义的利益是客观的规则
Politics has moral significance, but there is an ineluctable tension
between ‘moral command and the requirements of political action’;
普世道德不能用来指导国家行为
The moral aspirations of a particular state must not be confused
with universal moral laws; 国家道德不等同于普世道德
Autonomy of the political – distinct from law, economics etc. 政治
现实主义是独立的理论学派
International politics = struggle for power:
2 Concerns : Power Concern v. Moral Concern
Morality for the private sphere
The moral command
道德要求
Ethics in general
judges action by its conformity
to the moral law

Morality for the public sphere
Tension
紧张状态
Prudence
谨慎
The requirements of
successful political action
成功的政治行动
political ethics
judges action by its political
consequences
There can be no political morality without prudence谨慎, that is,
without consideration of the political consequences of seemingly
moral action.  his conception of the practice of power.
(2) Practice of power

On American FP (especially about
problems):
 Vietnam
and the US (1965);
 A New FP for the US (1969),

Morgenthau continued to examine, test,
and apply his central principles of power,
interest and morality. And by the mid1960s he had become American’s main
critic of the Vietnam War.
Desirability and Possibility
US FP – fear of communism
 indiscriminate anti-communism ——
ideologically consistent ≠ politically and
militarily sound
 The concept of interest defined in terms of
power requires a sharp distinction
between the desirability and the
possibility, which will save us from both
moral excess and political folly.
 (比较：Lee Kuan Yew FP）

Conclusion: What principles do
classical realists share?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Must look at world as it is, not as it ought to
be.
Interest of states and leaders is power.
Ambition for power comes more from human
nature than structure of system.
Moral claims or arguments about justice have
no place in foreign policy.
These principles are permanent aspects of
international politics.
KEY ASSUMPTIONS

States are the principal or most important actors (IR is
the study of relations among these units). Hence, the
notion of ‘an international system of states’

State as a unitary actor (an integrated unit)

State as a rational actor (rationality: end-means
relationship) Distinction between ‘high’ and ‘low politics’

National Security as the most important issue for states
1. From Classical Realism
to Neorealism: What’s New?
摩根索 Hans J. Morgenthau
(1904-1980)
• Politics Among Nations,
1948
沃尔兹Kenneth Waltz
(1924-May 2013)
• Man, the State, and War,
1959
• Theory of International
Politics ,1979)
Context I
The realist paradigm:
 the primacy of the nation state as actor (statescentrism)
 the sharp distinction between domestic and
international politics
 international relations as the struggle for power &
peace
 In the late 1960s & 1970s, the dominant realist paradigm
of IR theory was increasingly criticized – not primarily
for its methodology, but because of its portrayal of the
world.
Eg., J. Burton’s cobweb theory and especially theories of
transnationalism and interdependence produced by Nye
and Keohane, supplied alternative conceptions of the
international system.
Context II
However, at the end of 1970s,
developments in world politics seemed to
point to a return to the realist paradigm.
 Détente gave way to a Second Cold War
and international relations were still
dominated by superpower rivalries.
 Kenneth Waltz’s TIP (1979)  brought
realism to return to dominance under a
new guise, Neorealism.

摩根索人性恶论
Morgenthau & Human Nature
Key to international politics:


‘interest defined in terms of power’ 
Objective Law 权力定义的利益是客观的规则 ==
IP == Power Politics
Why???

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The Root  is in human nature 政治本源在于人性
Humans are self-interested and power-seeking
 that can easily result in aggression
eg: Hitler’s G and Mussolini’s Italy pursued blatantly
aggressive FPs aimed at conflict, not cooperation.
Neorealism (Structural Realism)

Systemic Conditions and Forces

Distinction between Reductionist V
Systemic Theories
还原主义理论 与 体系理论
2. Waltz’s TIP
The prime purpose of Waltz’s TIP is ‘to
construct a theory of international politics
that remedies the defects of present
theories’ (ie, classical realism).
 Waltz did so by bringing scientific and
methodological rigour of other disciplines
(esp, economics) to the study of
international politics
 Aim: to build a theory as simple /
parsimony; or theory as artifice; the
process as deliberately contrived.

Reductionism v. Systemic Theories

Reductionist theories try to understand and
explain international outcomes through elements
located at individual or national levels.
= Through study of its parts  try to explain
international outcomes – a
whole.
Waltz rejects reductionism because it assumes a
direct link between the intentions of individual
actors and the results of their actions; multitude
of variables at a state level.
Systemic Theory:
 In contrast to the reductionist approach,
Waltz asks why different units (states)
exhibit similar foreign policy behaviour
despite their different political systems and
contrasting ideologies.
 He explains this by systemic theory, since
systemic forces homogenize foreign
policy behaviour.
Three Tiers of System Structure
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1.
2.
3.
For Waltz, reductionist theories fail to take proper
account of the structural conditions inherent in the
international system. These conditions impose
themselves on all the units, and therefore ultimately
determine the outcomes of the interactions between
states.
Waltz attempts to clarify these determining properties
of the structure of the international system by
distinguishing them from those of domestic political
structures.
He attributes three tiers of structure to the system:
the ordering principle（如何排序、运作）,
the character of the units, and （功能、特性）
the distribution of capabilities （权力分配）
(1) Ordering Principles
Domestic == Hierarchy – power and
authority is exerted through the
compulsory jurisdiction of the political and
legal processes.
 International == Anarchy – no
overarching authority, regulating the
behaviour of states towards each other.

(2) The Character of the Units

Domestic political system:
Units — functional dissimilarity (hierarchical domestic
political system enables a unit demonstrating functional
dissimilarity, and by implication, differentiation.

International: functionally alike.
Anarchy of the international political system entails
relations of co-ordination among the system’s units, and
implies their sameness.
They perform or try to perform exactly the same primary
function regardless of their capacity to do so.
They become socialised into behaviour which centres
on mutual distrust, self-reliance and the pursuit of
security through the accumulation of power.
(3) Distribution of capabilities
Contrast to the unchanging nature of the first two
principles, states are differentiated in their capabilities
 There is an unequal and constantly shifting distribution of
power across the international system.
 The structure of a system changes with changes in
the distribution of capabilities among its units.
 Changes in structure change expectations about how the
units of the system will behave and about the outcomes
of their interactions.
Waltz: The key to understanding the behaviour of states 
the distribution of power in the ISy, not ideology or any
other internal factor.
 Important distinctions between great and small powers;
international change occurs when great powers rise and
fall and the balance of power shifts accordingly.

Variable 如何确定变量:
1.
the ordering principle 如何排序、运作
2.
the character of the units, and 国家的功
能、特性
3.
the distribution of capabilities 权力分配
BOP Theory

In such a systemic structure, how will a particular state
react? What will a state have to react to?
1) The basic assumptions

States are unitary actors, which, at a minimum, seek their
own preservation and, at a maximum, drive for universal
domination.
2) How to Achieve these ends?


Internal efforts – moves to increase economic and military
capabilities;
External efforts – moves to strengthen and enlarge one’s
own alliance or to weaken and shrink an opposing one, so
to achieve a favourable balance of power.
BOP Theory
3) Why?
 Lack of a formal governing authority for the
system;
 If the assumption that states seek to perpetuate
their existence is maintained emulation of
successful actions is to be expected in
accordance with structural inspired socialization
of behaviour.
BOP Theory
4) The assumptive basis of Waltz’s BOP theory yields no
explanation of states’ interests and motives.
 The explanatory emphasis is in the constraints upon states
and the results of un-coordinated actions of states.
 The expectation is that there is tendency toward recurrent
balance in the system, whether or not this is the intention of
the units.
 BOP stands as the ‘central mechanism of the international
political system’.
 Inequality of capabilities is viewed as a virtue, interference a
vice.
 Increased contacts that are the manifestation of a high level of
interdependence increases the number of arenas of possible
conflict.
3. Power, Power Politics in IR:
Neorealism


The importance of Power in IR (both CR and NR)
Why do states want power? (NR’s 5 Reasons)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.


International System = Anarchy (Inside/Outside;
International/Domestic)
All states posses offensive military capabilities
Intentions of other states
State’s survival as the most important goal
States = Rational actors
Together , these factors can,,,,,,
All states are operating in a self-help world.
4. Case: Can Chins Rise Peacefully?
Power Transition Theory
 Status Quo Power & Revisionist Power
 Rising Power == Revisionist, Dissatisfied
Power???

 Dialogue:
Hegemonic wrangling or coprosperity (John Mearsheimer on CCTV):
http://english.cntv.cn/program/dialogue/20120
523/103058.shtml
Thank You !!!