REALISM

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CHAPTER 2

• REALISM
• POWER POLITICS
• REALPOLITIK

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Long Tradition of Political Realism

• Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
• Sun Tsu (or Sun Zi), Art of War
• Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince
• Thomas Hobbes, The Leviathan
• Karl Von Clausewitz, On War
• Long a major theoretical approach of scholars
• Even more prevalent as guide to action for
  policymakers (even if implicit)
• Contest between realism and idealism/liberalism
  in first half of 20th century, realism dominant
  in second half

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Central Tenets of Realism the Realist Worldview

• human nature as inherently selfish, antagonistic,
  aggressive
• Unitary, autonomous states as only important
  actors in IR
• state interests as conflicting
• Relative gains as more important than absolute
  gains
• sources of policy are mostly external/systemic
• The basic structure of this system is anarchic
• Principle ends sought by states are security and
  order
• Principle means used by states are self-help and
  power maximization
• role of IGOs and international law is minimal

4
POWER

• According to realists power is the central
  concept of international politics, some say of
  politics more generally
• Realists claim it is impossible to understand IR
  w/o grasping power, its main elements, and how it
  is used
• But it is not at all clear how power should be
  defined and measured

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Three Conceptions of Power

• 1. Power as capabilities
• military, economic, diplomatic
• hard, material capabilities
• soft power culture, values, ideas
• 2. Power as influence (aka relational power)
• deterrence
• compellence
• threat f(CxI)
• 3. Power over outcomes (aka meta- or structural
  power)
• agenda-setting
• Making the rules of the game
• Residual issues conversion problem
• fungibility question

6
Distinctions in terms of power

• empire
• hegemons
• superpowers
• great/major powers
• middle powers
• lesser/minor powers

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SYSTEMS OF SOVEREIGN STATES

• The sovereignty of each individual state, when
  generalized to 2 states, implies a system of
  sovereign states, aka
• the interstate system
• the international system
• a multiple sovereignty system
• Historical precedents ancient Chinese warring
  states, Greek city states, Italian city states
• Significance of 1500
• Significance of Treaty of Westphalia (1648)

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INTERNATIONAL ANARCHY

• Central feature of systems of states in realist
  view
• As kind of political structure, does not imply
  constant chaos or disorder
• compare with domestic hierarchy
• horizontal versus vertical forms of order
• lack of central authority
• no recourse if wronged
• thus, importance of self-help
• But self-help efforts create security dilemma,
  which, when generalized, results in collective
  insecurity
• as permissive cause of war

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Types of International Systems

• systemic level of analysis often used by realists
• based on power distributions
• relation to peace, stability, order?
• UNIPOLAR / HEGEMONIC / EMPIRE
• hegemonic leadership stability
• BIPOLAR
• certainty of friend foe caution
• internal balancing (scales)
• polarization
• wars less frequent, more intense

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Types of International Systems (cont.)

• TRIPOLAR
• why unstable, 2 on 1
• China-Japan-US triad in E Asia
• globally, future N America-Europe-E Asia triad?
• MULTIPOLAR / BALANCE of POWER
• uncertainty of friend foe
• wars more frequent, less intense
• external balancing (chandelier)
• spontaneous order?
• alternatives to balancing
• bystanding
• bandwagoning

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ALLIANCES

• Important in realism, critical to operation of
  balance of power
• Why form an alliance? To pool capabilities vis a
  vis a commonly perceived threat, eg, NATO during
  Cold War
• But alliances can also have undesired effects,
  mainly by reducing a states autonomy in the
  worst case drawing it into a war it otherwise
  could have avoided, eg, Japan
• Not surprising then that alliances tend to be
  fluid, ie, impermanent Charles DeGaulle
  Treaties are like roses and young girls. They
  last while they last.
• What happens to alliances once the external
  threat recedes, eg, as with NATO in post-Cold War
  era?
• Alliances can also be more or less cohesive, as
  in the case of current US-European differences
  over Iraq and over the role of NATO, as well as
  other divisive issues

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Alternative System-Level Theories

• POWER TRANSITION THEORY
• dynamic v. static
• status quo v. challenger
• COLLECTIVE SECURITY
• coalition of the whole
• League of Nations
• Gulf War II
• WORLD GOVERNMENT

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14
States Have No Permanent Friends, Only Permanent
Interests
1980s
2003
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