realism (intro & history) Flashcards
what kind of theory is realism
hegemonic
what is the regular condition of international system according to realist theory?
state of war (defended by realism)
who originated the CLASSICAL THEORY OF REALISM
Thucydides
what is Thucydides trap?
war emerges bc of fear of an emerging power taking away existing hegemonic power ie. disrupting the balance of power
what is pax romana/augusta? (roman peace)
explain concept
200 yr long golden age of peace in Roman empire
concept: universal state civilization
why did thucydidian realism decline?
- pax romana/augistina (universal state civilization)
- chinese & roman power of the time never interacted ie no rise of balance of power
- spead of christianity & christian universalism
according to machiavelli, what are prince’s duties
- protect his power
- protect his subjects
what is normal condition in world affairs
war; every solution, victory or compromise is a preperation for another war
source of international anarchy? (according to hobbes)
internal order
creating a dilemma between the two
main reasons for rivalry & competition among states (acc to hobbes)
- independence
- jealousy
what is leviathan over leviathan?
leviathan= state
leviathan over leviathan= state ruling over another state ie international govt which is impossible
when and how did thirty year war end?
lasted from 1618-1648
ended with TREATY OF WESTPHALIA (foundation of present international law)
essential principles of Treaty of Westphalia
3 principles
1. whose realm, his religion : religion is internal affair and cannot be fought over ie. NON INTERFERENCE
2. all nations are equal and independent; king’s an emperor in his. ie. SOVEREIGNTY
3. no one can be stronger than other ie. BALANCE OF POWER
+ collab to fight over whenever one state wants dominance (eg WW)
where did Thucydides trap emerge from
pelopponesian war
features of realist school
- state centric
- state of anarchy
- states depend on self help
- main goal= survival
- survival through= increasing power
- security dilemma
- power is a “zero sum game”
what’s 3 S’s of realsim
stateism: neglects importance of other actors
security
self help
what and who gave idea of Vijigishu
Kautilya
it means (ever hungry to acquire power)
who wrote ART OF WAR
sun tzu, also gave guerilla warfare among many war strategies
different schools of realsim
- classical
- neo realism
2.1 defensive
2.2 offensive
2.3 neo classical realism
morgenthau’s main view
- gave systemic view of realism in IP
- influenced by machiavelli
- supported classical realism
in 1948, morganthau wrote
politics among nations
what’re the 6 principles of realism by morganthau
- man is ANIMUS DOMANDI ie power seeking
- national interest through security, security through power
- national interest & power is highly dynamic
- pragmatic is ethics of politics
- difference between moral aspirations of a nation & universal moral principles
- IP is autonomous: not ethics, not law, not econ
3 classifications of countries on basis of morganthau foreign policy
- STATUS QUO- benefits from present system eg US
- REVISIONISTS -change the system (china)
- IMPERIALIST (germany under hitler )
3 critics of morhanthau
- kenneth waltz: not scientific
- Benno wasserman: human nature not scientific
- stanley hoffman: ‘power monism’
synonym of neo realism
- structural (shift from nature to structure)
- scientific (kenneth waltz)
kenneth watlz’s book name that was published in 1979
the theory of international politics
wrote to prove that realism is “timeless wisdom”
what is detente
a relaxing of tension phase during cold war
what are the prominent ideas of waltz on IP
comparison of domestic & world pol to understand impact of anarchy
- security dilemma: need of arms
- functional differentiation: dom 3 branches of gov
- capabilities determine polarity & denotes power
no freedom to actors
difference between waltz and mearshiemer
waltz was defensive (security maximizers), counter coalition, power enough for defense
mearschiemer is offensive (power maximizers), no amount of power is enough, closer to morganthau
against ‘bandwagoning’
2001 publication of mearshiemer
the tragedy of great power politics
mearshiemer’ observation on US- China
- china is challenge to US hegemony
- foolish of US to support china
- foolish of US to accept “peaceful rise” discourse
mearsheimer’s policies
- direct
1.1 war
1.2 blackmailing - indirect
a. buck passing: “swing state”
b. bait & bleed
c. blood letting
critics of structural
- no scope for dem politics
- focus too much on security
- role of non state actors
whats neo classical realism, name a few proponents
include actor level analysis along w structure
1. fareed Zakaria
2. gideon rose
3. randall shwellar
basis of 3rd world realism
- eurocentrism
- insecurity dilemma (by mohammad ayub)
models of power polarity
- uni: stable but unlikely
- bi: stable & likely, predictable
- multi: unstable & likely, unpredictable
