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Theory’s ultimate goal is to predict phenomena. Good theories can explain events across space & time

States act as individuals might, meaning that each state acts in a unitary way in pursuit of its own national interest, defined in terms of power.

These states exist in an anarchic international system, a characterization in which the term anarchy highlights the absence of an authoritative hierarchy (i.e., a single state powerful enough to conquer all other states).

Under this condition of anarchy, realists argue that states in the international system can only rely on themselves.

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