A brief history of political realism

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A brief history of political realism

• First identified in about 450 BC by Thucydides
  History of the Peloponnesian War.
• The first modern philosophical articulations of
  political realism were identified by Niccolò
  Machiavelli in Il Principe (The Prince 1513)
  and Thomas Hobbes in Leviathan (1668).
• In 1948, Hans Morgenthau published Politics Among
  Nations. The Struggle for Power and Peace.
  Positing political realism as an explanation of
  international relations among states, Morgenthau
  solidifies realism as a viable political theory.

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Todays notable realists

• John Mearsheimer - The Tragedy of Great Power
  Politics (2001)
• Stephen Van Evera - Causes of War Power and the
  Roots of Conflict (1999)
• Robert Jervis - Perception and Misperception in
  International Politics (1976
• Stephen Walt - The Origins of Alliances (1987)
• Kenneth Waltz - Theory of International Politics
  (1979).

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What is political realism?

• Political realism is a paradigm that seeks to
  explain states actions within the international
  system. Realisms core assumptions are
• 1.) Sovereign states are the principal actors in
  the international system.
• 2.) States are rational actors, acting in their
  national interest.
• 3.) The overriding goal of each state is its own
  security and survival.
• 4.) State survival is guaranteed best by power,
  principally military in character.
• Source http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_re
  alism

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Today, political realism is at a cross-road.

• The USSR collapsed in December of 1991 in the
  wake of an economic tail-spin and political
  turmoil.
• A predictable, bi-polar international system,
  stabilized by US and USSR policies of mutual
  containment, had transformed into an
  unpredictable multi-polar or uni-polar system,
  depending on ones point of view.
• Competing theories of international relations,
  particularly those of neo-liberals, posited that
  the presence of transnational organizations,
  NGOs, IGOs, etc., within the international system
  significantly reduced the viability of realism
  theory.

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As Stephen Krasner has noted

• Analytically, realism is most definite when it
  is investigating situations in which constraints
  imposed by the international system threaten
  minimalist state objectives the protection of
  territorial and political integrity. Realism can
  offer its most precise explanations when states
  have few options because they are narrowly
  constrained by the international distribution of
  powerRealism is less analytically precise when
  the international system is not tightly
  constraining.
• Krasner, Stephen. Realism, Imperialism, and
  Democracy A Response To Gilbert. Political
  Theory, 20, no. 1, Feb. 1992. Pg. 40.

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Is realism viable today? Yes.

• Realism still offers viable analytic tools and
  prescriptive capabilities, debatably within a
  more parsimonious context, to scholars and policy
  makers.
• States remain the primary actors within the
  international system.
• States are still greatly concerned with power and
  security.
• States still pursue their own national interests.
• The international system remains anarchic.

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Does the post-Cold War, multi-polar system
present political realism with significant
theoretical obstacles? Yes.

• My thesis proposes that political realism
  encounters substantial analytic and prescriptive
  difficulty when
• 1.) Ideology
• 2.) Nationalism
• 3.) Terrorism
• 4.) Religious Extremism
• are introduced as independent variables.

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Methodology

• Heavy emphasis upon theoretical reasoning and
  logic.
• Analysis of relevant case studies.
• Potential Design Problems A question exists as
  to whether or not each of the independent
  variables is operating at the same level. They
  may also excessively overlap one another.

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Ideology Realism

• Mark Haas, in The Ideological Origins of Great
  Power Politics, 1789-1989, has proposed that
  ideological considerations, foreign and domestic,
  can and do cause policy makers to enact foreign
  policies that contradict realist assertions,
  particularly power considerations are concerned.
• Haas theorizes that analysis of the ideological
  distance between powers can be utilized to
  analyze and prescient the actions of great powers.

10
Ideology Realism Cont.

• Haas presents a viable, well-supported argument.
  
• Might Haas theory be flawed, however?
• --Ex. France/England v. Austria/Russia/Prussia
• Backdoor Realism? Is Haas still potentially
  examining power? Might his conclusions be the
  result of domestic/international considerations
  rather than solely international considerations
  as tenanted by realism?

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Nationalism Realism

• Nationalism, most simply stated, consists of
  organizationally heightened and articulated group
  demands directed toward securing control of the
  distributive system in a society. Groups may be
  defined by number of human social indicators,
  including ethnicity, culture, language, religion,
  class, etc.
• Hah, Chong-Do and Jeffrey Martin. Toward a
  Synthesis of Conflict and Integration of Theories
  of Nationalism. 27, no. 3, April 1975.

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Nationalism Realism Cont.

• The fact of the matter is that the most powerful
  political ideology in the world todayis
  nationalism. Nationalism glorifies the state,
  and there are all sorts of people out there
  fighting for a state of their own. - John
  Mearsheimer, 2002.
• Does Mearsheimers argument, an argument intended
  to reaffirm the primacy of state actors upon the
  international stage, inadvertently undermine
  realist assumptions of power perceptions?
• Realism holds that a states territorial
  integrity, due to resource considerations, is
  inherently linked to its power. Yet,
  nationalism, generally speaking, dismantles
  states, thus diminishing the power of the state
  of origin while also weaker derivative states.
• Consider Yugoslavia, for example. Consider
  Canada should Quebec become independent.

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Transnational Terrorism Realism

• the question of what does a Realist theory of
  international politics have to say about
  terrorists? The answer is not a whole heck of a
  lot. - John Mearsheimer, 2002
• Realism posits that states are the only actors
  within the international system. Some (but not
  all) terror organizations are transnational
  actors. They operate within the international
  system, causing states to react to them and visa
  versa.
• As Mearsheimer noted in 2002, however, My theory
  and virtually all Realist theories don't have
  much to say about transnational actors.
• Consequently, because of this deficiency, realism
  encounters substantial normative and theoretical
  obstacles when terror organizations, for example,
  are factored into the equation. Why?

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Transnational Terrorism and Realism Cont.

• Terror organizations are often diffuse, spread
  amongst numerous states. Who gets attacked?
• Terror organizations employ tactics of
  asymmetrical warfare. How do conventional powers
  fight unconventional opponents? What about WMDs?
• Terrorism very often carries domestic
  considerations, which realism does not address.

15
Religious Extremism and Realism

• Realism is based upon power evaluations and
  security.
• A faith, when practiced in its entirety, is
  absolutist. The faith is right all else is
  wrong.
• Logically speaking, to a religious extremist,
  realist power considerations most likely do not
  matter. Why?

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Religious Extremism and Realism Cont.

• God. A religious extremist, especially those who
  view violence as a means of achieving the sacred,
  often has little fear of death as God will either
  protect him or reward him in the afterlife.
• Consider the case of Iran. Iran may develop a
  nuclear weapon and use it, simply because its
  president believes, absolutely and without
  question, that God is on his side. No
  conventional power can defeat the power of God.
  As such, he may conclude that Iran cannot be
  defeated.
• Such rationalizations also transfer to
  conventional wars.
• Religious extremists are rational.

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Realisms Score Card?

• Ideology May or may not short circuit
  realism.
• Nationalism Does short circuit realism.
• Transnational Terrorism Does short circuit
  realism.
• Religious Extremism Does short circuit
  realism.

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Alternatives to realism?

• 1.) CONSTRUCTIVISM? Identity, culture and norms
  important to states and their interactions with
  similar and dissimilar states. The process, not
  structure, is important.
• 2.) CRITICAL THEORY? All theories serve some
  purpose. Human knowledge guides decision making.
  Emphasizes problem solving, cooperation,
  freedom, etc.
• 3.) LIBERALISM? States are only one of many
  actors. System much less anarchic, allowing for
  cooperation between states.
• 4.) WORLD SYSTEMS THEORY? Economic focus.
  Capitalism determines the dynamics of world
  politics.
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  html