Transcript Realism - DCU Moodle 2011

LG117: Introduction to
International Relations
Lecture 5: Classic Theories of
IR: Realism
James Fitzgerald
School of Law and Government
Dublin City University
What is International
Relations? - Realism
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What?
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Which Actors/units of analysis?
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What types of events/phenomena?
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Conflict, crises, balance of power
Why?
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States – ‘black box’
Explanation, description, Survival
States, Self-help & Survival
What is International
Relations? - Liberalism
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What? –
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Which Actors/unit of analysis?
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What types of events/phenomena?
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States – from the ‘inside out’
International Organisations
Individuals?
cooperation, economics, trade, law
Why?
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Peace
How do we Characterise Realism?
6 Core (/Broad) Beliefs:
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1) Usually State Centric
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2) Emphasis on the Anarchical Nature of the International
System
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3) The Primacy of Power
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4) Security is the Highest Priority
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5) Critical of Universal Institutions
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6) Examine the world in terms of an ‘objective’ reality
How do we Characterise
Realism (2)?
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Realism – “probably the most
distinguished school of thought in the
history of international relations”
(Hoffman, 1988, 6)
But, didn’t it emerge as a response to
Liberalism in the 1930’s?
Yes as a distinct tradition in IR, but also
claimed continuity with older traditions
in political thought…and practice
Realism’s Cultural-Historic
Roots
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Christian Tradition: Man as inherently
sinful
Egotistical
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Animus dominandi
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Darwinian Perspective: Survival of the
Fittest
Realism And History
For Realists, ‘things’ do not ‘get better’
Tragedy (Greeks, Nietzsche)
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Hubris and Nemesis
‘Recurrence & Repetition’ (Gilpin,
Wight)
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Things change, but politics always stays
the same
Realist Moral Politics
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Realists prefer an ‘ethics of
responsibility’ (Max Weber)
Realists argue that some moral choices
are intractable
Stark contrast to the notion of ‘pacifism’
The lesser evil rather than the absolute
good
3 (Main) Types of Realism
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1) Classical Realism
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2) Modern Realism
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E.H. Carr, Hans J. Morgenthau
3) Neo-Realism
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Thucydides, Machiavelli, Hobbes
Kenneth Waltz, Jonathan Meirsheimer
Historical context is crucial to the
development of different ‘strands’ of Realism
Classical Realists
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Thucydides (460-400BC approx)
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Peloponnesian wars 431-404BC
“What made war inevitable was the growth of Athenian
power and the fear which this caused in Sparta.”
Machiavelli (1469-1527)
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The Prince - “It was for each state or ruler to pursue its own
interest: the question of morality in international politics, at
least in the sense of moral rules which restrained states in
their relations with one another, did not arise” Bull, 1976,
p105
On the question of whether it is better to be loved or feared:
“I reply that one should like to be both one and the other;
but since it is difficult to join them together, it is much safer
to be feared than to be loved when one of the two must be
lacking [emphasis added].”
Classical Realists
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Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
Leviathan (1651)
Chiefly concerned with Civil war and political order at
the domestic level
The State of nature : “solitary, poor, nasty brutish
and short”
“war of all against all” in the absence of a common
power to overawe them
“Because any state may at any time use force, all
states must constantly be ready either to counter
force with force or to pay the costs of weakness”
Waltz, 1959 P160
Conclusion:
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Realism as a highly distinguished ‘tradition’ in
International Relations; and perhaps the most
powerful
Professes to analyse international
relations/international politics objectively and
eschews universal moral principles—nonnormative theory
Takes its roots in historical and philosophical
traditions and discourses
Key writings from realist tradition include the
works of Thucydides, Machiavelli and Hobbes
Tomorrow
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A look at ‘modern’ Realism and its
development vis-à-vis historical
circumstances
Examples of Realism ‘in action’
Possible Challenges to the Realist
paradigm?