Realism and its varieties Flashcards
Who wrote The Prince?
Machiavelli
What are the three levels of analysis in poli sci?
individual leader, domestic population, state (government)
What is the state’s role? (3 things)
- solve collective action problems
- protect domestic populations from foreign attack
- protect citizens from each other
What is Max Weber’s definition of a state?
having a monopoly on the legitimate use of force (citizens accept the state’s ability to intervene and lead)
Who said “war made the state and the state made war”?
Charles Tilly
Generally, what is the idea of “war made the state and the state made war”? (ie. what does war mean and how does it “make the state”)
War means:
- raising an army
- collecting taxes
- building infrastructure
Since you have to build infrastructure to transport soldiers etc, this infrastructure can be used after the war for the benefit of the citizens.
“Rally around the flag” effect = war unifies populations from different backgrounds as they fight together
What are some examples of the “rally around the flag effect”?
France, Italy, and Canada in participating in WW1 and WW2
What is The Prince?
a handbook by Machiavelli about authoritarian rule through force and subterfuge
What are some of the thoughts shown in Machiavelli’s The Prince?
- recommends alliances of convenience, not principle
- doesn’t believe leaders need morality and idealism
- need to appear to have morals, but not actually have them
When was the idea of a state adopted/with what “event”?
Treaty of Westaphalia (1648) at the end of 30 years war
Why was Hobbes’ Leviathan (1651) so important?
foundational political science text, discusses on domestic and international politics
What did Hobbes think of the world?
Thought it was a brutish, “dog eat dog” world
What was Hobbes’ solution to the world?
-people need to consent to be coerced by a central power/government
How does Hobbes view politics?
A zero-sum game
Does Hobbes agree with Machiavelli’s thoughts that morality/justice don’t need to be a part of international politics?
Yes
Says “force and fraud are in the war the two cardinal values”
According to Mearsheimer, what are the four main ways to gain power?
- War
- Blackmail
- bait and bleed (make rivals engage in war)
- bloodletting (make sure wars between rivals are long and costly)
What are the two main ways for checking aggressors?
- balancing
- buck-passing
What is balancing?
Way of checking aggressor, direct, send clear signals to aggressors through diplomatic channels that they are committed to maintaining the balance of power
ex. defensive alliances, mobilizing additional resources
What is buck-passing?
Way of checking aggressor, indirect, makes another state bear the burden of deterring or fighting aggressor (you stay on sidelines)
Who is Hans Morgenthau?
- one of most influential realist writers
- considered one of the originators of realist thought
- lived from 1904-1980
- one of first scholars to approach International Politics methodically
What are some main ideas of Hans Morgenthau’s Realism?
- politics are governed by objective laws rooted in human nature (unchanging)
- criticizes idealism, thinks that it’s wishful thinking
- moral principles in real-world are minimal
What does realism enable in politics?
Prediction and comparison
Interest is defined in terms of _______
power
Why do realists argue that there is always a risk of war?
Mistrust and power struggle
States will generally seek to _______ a potential enemy rather than _________
deter a potential enemy through military preparations rather tan defeat them in battle
In addition to military force, power can also be asserted via ________
economic leverage
What is an example of economic leverage being used to show power?
Trade wars
T or F: our domestic vs. international views are very similar
F: they are drastically different (example murder in a country vs. war)
Political actors seek to _______, ________, or _______
keep power, increase power, or demonstrate power
How do states try to keep power?
Preserve the status quo/balance of power via treaties and alliances
What causes empires to rise? (four main things)
- increasing economic power (industrialization)
- Military force (naval power and land army)
- conquering territory to capture new resources to fuel empire
- colonies and allies contributing material and personnel to empire
What causes empires to fall? (5)
- Emergence of rival empires
- losing wars
- overreach
- costs of maintaining a huge military
- domestic unrest
What are some examples of overreach?
Hitler and Napolean invading Russia
What are some examples of maintaining a huge military?
- wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are costly and non-essential for US
- USSR is “Upper Volta with rockets” (German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt) meaning they have a very low quality of life
What is hegemony?
preponderant influence and authority over others; ability to force other countries to follow your key policies as opposed to their own
What are the components of military power?
land, naval, air, and nuclear forces (some argue cyperspace)
What doe deterrence mean in terms of balancing?
- using the threat of war to deter an opposing power
- —–must convince a state that at a certain point they will provoke you (as a state) into war
What must be done for deterrence to work?
- demonstrate resolve
- –must be willing to fight
- –must act upon threats if needed
If not for survival, why do states try to contain other states/their values?
for reputation
Why did the US want to contain communism?
response to the Greek civil war, felt that they lost states, wanted to protect reputation
What ‘document’ did the US implement to try to contain the USSR and communism?
Truman Doctrine
What was the US economic plan after WW2?
Marshall Plan
What did the Marshall Plan consist of?
- subsidized the rebuilding of Central and Western Europe
- –lots of this was credit to be used to purchase US goods to stimulate the US economy
- recipients became allies
What did the US want to avoid in east asia during the cold war?
Domino effect
–had already “lost” China
Fighting the communist in Vietnam was intended to ___________
send a signal of determination, reputation, and credibility, to the region and the globe
What kind of powers usually buck-pass?
Smaller powers
What kind of powers usually balance?
Larger powers
What are the 3 general varieties of realism?
- classical realism
- neo-realism
- neo-classical realism
Who is a very influential classical realist?
Hans Morgenthau
Who is a very influential neo-realist?
Kenneth Waltz
Who is a very influential neo-classical realist?
Gideon Rose
What do the different varieties think of the possibility of having a Grand Theory that describes all state behaviour?
- Classical Realist: yes (many factors contribute but still yes)
- Neo-realism: Grand Theory based on global state system
- Neo-classical Realism: case specific factors determine outcome (no)
What are independent variables in international relations?(def.)
causal factors that produce an outcome
What are dependent variables in international relations? (def.)
the outcomes we seek to explain
____________ variables cause __________ variables
independent cause dependent
What are the three main independent variables in internaitonal relations?
- leadership perceptions
- domestic politics
- material power endowments
To neo-classical realists, what independent variables matter most in shaping outcomes?
all factors (leadership perception, domestic politics, material power endowments)
In classical realism, are leadership perception and domestic politics important?
No
What kind of realism assumes that all leaders are rational and therefore predictable?
Classical realism
What kind of realism assumes that leaders are fallible humans and can therefore be unpredictable at times?
Neoclassical realism
In analyzing Donald Trump, we prove which type of realism?
Neoclassical realism (unpredictable/irrational leaders)
T or F: populations are not sensitive to financial and human costs
F, they are sensitive to both
Does regime type (authoritarian vs. democracy) matter in classical realism?
no
Does regime type (authoritarian vs. democracy) matter in neoclassical realism?
Yes, particularly in democracy
Why does the idea of having democracy change international state behavior?
government is more accountable, public pressures might shape leaders’ decisions
Offensive realism assumes that security is ________
scarce
Defensive realism assumes that security is ________
plentiful
What author discusses domestic politics, offensive realism and defensive realism?
Gideon Rose
According to offensive realism, states’ position in the international system is based on ________
material power
In offensive realism, states ______
compete with each other
Defensive realism suggest that conflict is _________
unlikely
defensive realism says that war is the result of _________ or __________
misperception, rogue states acting rashly
The lack of war in the Cold War caused people to question _______ realism and led to ______
classical, neo-realism
Waltz believed that States are concerned with _______ not ______
security, not power
Waltz thought wars occurred because of _____ and ______
miscalculation and overreaction
Waltz considers the world system to be ______
anarchic
What is the security dilemma?
In an absence of perfect information about other states’ capabilities and motives, states are forced to fear the worst and prepare for the worst (war)
What is the security dilemma based on?
Perception
What is the conflict spiral?
When a state prepares for war purely for defensive reasons, causing another state to perceive these defensive moves as offensive and prepare for war themselves
—can trigger war
Why does the conflict spiral occur?
Neither side trusts the other nor knows other’s perceptions/motives
What is an example of the conflict spiral?
Arab-Israeli war
- both sides took measure to escalate tensions
- Egypt sent army divisions to border Israel, closed straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping
- Israel mobilized army
- fearing heavy losses if forced to defend, Israel attacked first
- neither side wanted war
WW1 occurred in a ____________ world system
multipolar
Why did all of Europe get pulled in to WW1?
Alliance patterns(treaties)
Who were the three members of the Triple-Alliance (WW!)?
Austria-Hungary, Germany, Italy
Why didn’t Italy join the war?
the Alliance attacked first
-since it wasn’t defensive, Italy was not breaking any terms of the alliance by not joining
What empire joined the Triple-Alliance in 1915?
Ottoman
___________ shaped the nature of WW1
new war tech (particularly that which was untested)
Who were the members of the Triple-Entente?
Russia, France, UK (plus terrritories (CAN, AUS, NZ))
The Triple-Entente ______ the Triple-Alliance
balanced
When was Franz Ferdinand assassinated?
June 28th, 1914
Austria-Hungary accused _____ of aiding assassins and made an ultimatum which _____ didn’t meet
Serbia
Russia and France mobilizing due to a Triple Alliance member mobilizing is an example of _______ and _______
security dilemma and conflict spiral
Snyder and Christensen said that states will do one of which two things?
- chain themselves to reckless allies (WW1)
- pass the buck (WW2)
If states think offensive = advantage they will ______
chain themselves to allies
If states think defensive = advantage they will _______
pass the buck
What two things do Snyder and Christensen believe lead to misperceptions (causing security dilemma and conflict spiral)?
civil-military relations (domestic factors) and engrained lessons of formative experiences (i.e. previous wars/conflicts)
_________ and ________ also pla a role in states’ security calculations
military technology and geography
What is the military-industrial complex?
Relation between arms manufacturers and states’ behavior
In a multipolar system, how strong are the members of an alliance compared to each other?
equally strong
In a multipolar system, why do alliance members attack if another goes to war?
Their safety is threatened
What does free ride mean?
gain benefits with no work, on the sidelines
Freeriding can lead to _____ and ______
ineffective balancing and an overturn in power balance because the aggressor state had the advantage
___polarity is more stable than ____polarity because superpowers won’t be pulled into war by others
Bipolarity more stable than multipolarity
What is an example of perception based on other war failing?
WW2, France’s maginot line (defensive strategies), Germany conquered Belgium and Holland quickly then invaded France through Belgium
