Key Thinkers

Question 1

Thucydides: KEY WORKS

Answer 1

The history of the Peloponnesian war, Which recounts the struggle between Athens and Sparta in fifth century BC

Question 2

Thucydides: MAIN IDEAS

Answer 2

War is inevitable
States cannot avoid war when a rising power begins to challenge a dominant state’s control - As seen in the Peloponnesian war between Athens and Sparta, emergent power Athens contested
Spartan supremacy
the Thucydides trap - Tendencies for war to break out when a state’s power and dominance is challenged

Question 3

Niccolo Machiavelli: MAIN IDEAS

Answer 3

Leaders should make decisions on behalf of their people it is not their responsibility to be liked or loved but instead to be feared and respected
States should provide stability and governance
People have their own ambitions and motivations and we must be wary of them as potential enemies - self-interest, humans are selfish and egoistic

Question 4

Carl von Clausewitz: MAIN IDEAS

Answer 4

“war is merely the continuation of policy by other means” and a tool to achieve and secure national interests
Conflict is therefore inevitable

Question 5

Hans Morgenthau: MAIN IDEAS

Answer 5

“International politics, like all politics, is a struggle for power”
Emphasised the importance of the national interest
Criticised the Vietnam war - the USA should Not have involved itself in the war as it would not have gained anything

Question 6

Kenneth Waltz: MAIN IDEAS

Answer 6

neorealist theory on international anarchy
The system of anarchy creates the structural problem that there is no higher power to prevent the use of force so states can only ensure their survival through self-help

Question 7

John Mearsheimer: MAIN IDEAS

Answer 7

States seek hegemony for security
Dismissed the democratic peace theory

Question 8

Hedly Bull: MAIN IDEAS

Answer 8

Society of states - There is no world government or single commanding authority

Question 9

Immanuel Kant: MAIN IDEAS

Answer 9

States do have a right to go to war again other states if another state threatens it or acts aggressively, but war should be a last resort
States are obliged to leave the state of nature and enter into a union of states

Question 10

Joseph Nye: MAIN IDEAS

Answer 10

Complex interdependence - countries are connected by multiple social political and economic relationships
Smart power is the balance of hard and soft power

Question 11

Francis Fukuyama: MAIN IDEAS

Answer 11

The end of the Cold War represented a triumph of liberalism and the new world order