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Realism recap
Fichas del conjunto (10)
- 1Realism foundational assumptions1. humans are self interested and constantly compete for power
2. to get ahead, need group solidarity, but this generates inter group conflict
3. the world is anarchic, no world government, states are most important
4. anarchy doesn't mean chaos, states are ALL self interested and theres a logic to state interaction - 2more basic assumptions- states are the most important group in the international arena
- state interests are most important, skeptical of other foreign policy goals like environment
- military strength = most important kind of power, it guarantees security - 3Hans Morgenthau (classical realism)- causes of conflict are rooted in human nature
- drives to live, propagate and dominate are common to all men
- a lust for power is always expressed in politics - 4Kenneth Waltz (neo, or structural realism)- wanted a more generalised theory to help us predict behaviour
- to do this, we need to simplify the world even further
- he stated there are 3 levels of analysis in IR
1. human nature
2. the state
3. the system of states
( he focussed on the system of states as it is most simplified in order to generate a prediction ) - 5Waltz"a state will use force to attain its goals if, after assessing the prospects for success, it values these goals more than the international peace"
- states aren't always at war, but they will always pursue conflict when it benefits them most
- there is no constraining factor on whether states use violent force, what about the UN?
- the UN is no use, after all states have gone against the UN, USA into Iraq...? - 6so, what does this all tell us?- all states are forced to seek maximum power relative to other states, that is how they achieve security
- power defined primary through military capability
- conflict is inevitable as there is nothing there to prevent it
- states are unlikely to cooperate due to self interested, they can't be trusted to keep promises if it doesn't benefit them the most - 7Waltz believed in the *balance of power*BoP= states will try to check each others power by building their own capabilities (internal balancing), or by building alliances (external balancing)
- not all states can be superpowers, so some states bandwagon, ally themselves to superpowers
- these alliances are cooperation, but it will be broken when no longer necessary - 8hegemonic stabilitythe relative stability in an international system caused by the presence of one dominant superpower
- is this really stable?
- yes, nobody is brave enough to check the power, can assert global leadership
- but Waltz thought bipolar most stable, 2 checking power all the time - 9Realists on cooperation- states can cooperate but that cooperation is constrained by dominating logic of security and competition, which no amount of cooperation can eliminate
- UN, EU, NATO etc - 10relative vs absolute gainsrealists are concerned with relative gains
- also with the issue of cheating
- cooperation therefore probably going to be short lived
- if there are any international institutions they will always reflect global power distribution and self interest (UN, lol)
- super powers won't join an institution if it means giving up their influence (UN again)
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- High School Certificate Politics Fichas sobre Realism recap , creado por Katie Best el 12/12/2017.
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- Katie Best
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