I.

Overview of Realism

Realism has been one of the dominant theories in international relations especially during the Cold War. Realism in a sense is a pessimistic way of viewing the worlds international political issues. It strongly believes that states are self-egotistic and would not seek help from other states or other international entities unless there were hidden agendas that came with it to further its own interests. Although realism has been synonymously linked with attaining power, it strongly detests war as a measure to increase a states power as mentioned by some realists in the US invasion of Iraq. The table below gives an overview of Realisms concept: Realism / Neorealism Key actors View of the individual View of the state State Power seeking, selfish, antagonistic Seeks power and security of its own, unitary actor, has a rational interest View of the international system Major theorists Anarchic, stability in balance of power system Thucydides, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Morgenthau, Waltz, Mearsheimer View in cooperation Cooperation is improbable. States will cooperate only to further their own interests.

Classical Realism Classical Realism has been pioneered by Thucydides, Thomas Hobbes, Niccolo Machiavelli and Hans Morenthau. In classical realism, states were perceived as self-seeking egoists, meaning that national interests are the key to a states survival as it is human nature that one must dominate over the other; and as Machiavelli would put it it is better to be feared, than loved.

Structural Realism In the case of neo-realism, state security or military power is still its main concern, and it still overlooks the concept of human security. The main difference of neo-realism from realism is that

it tends to be more structural and it leaves out the notion of human nature in understanding the issues in IR. Therefore, neo-realism is not really focused in human rights as it puts the states interest first.

Structural realists agree that international politics is a struggle for power and are interested in providing a rank ordering states in order to differentiate and count the number of great powers that exist in a given time. Security competition and interstate conflict is due to the lack of an overarching authority above states and the distribution of power. Kenneth Waltz defined the structure of the international system in terms of three elements; (1) organizing principle, (2) differentiation of units, and (3) distribution of capabilities. Waltz claims that the distribution of capabilities is the most important element in order to understand the international outcomes (Baylis, 2008).

Waltz believes that the existence of power is a means to achieve security; and statesmen will definitely try to have an appropriate amount of it. In effect, states with great power should be sensitive to the capabilities of other states for it may create apprehension on other states survival. In summary, Waltz argues that states should be security maximizers (frequently called as defensive realism) rather than power maximizers, which often proves to be dysfunctional because it triggers counter balancing coalition of states. However, John Mearsheimer thinks otherwise and is leaning on the idea of offensive realism. He believes that all states should continuously gain power at the expense of other states. For him states recognize that the best path to peace is to accumulate more power than anyone else.

II. Assumptions in Realism

Statism The State is the main actor for the realist and that sovereignty is a states distinguishing trait. States compete with other states for power and security. The nature of this competition is viewed in zero-sum terms so more for one actor is less for another.

Power is what states strive for and the challenge to measure power was defined by Hans J. Morgenthau. According to him power is mans control over the minds and actions of other men. Realists also highlighted two important points in the concept of power. First, power is a relational concept exercises power in relation to another entity. Second, power is a relative concept, wherein calculations needs to be made and capabilities of the states are being measured. However, measuring the power of states is complex and sometimes limited to counting the number of troops, tanks, aircrafts etc.

Survival Survival is held to be preconditioned for attaining all other goals, whether these involve conquest or independence (Baylis, 2008). Collecting power for survival is viewed differently by the defensive realist and the offensive realist.

Defensive realists believes that states principal interest is security and they will seek power to ensure their own survival, but will not seek to gain greater amount of power if that will jeopardize their own security.

On the other hand, offensive realists believe that the ultimate goal of all states is to achieve hegemonic position in the international position. States desire more power and if the opportunity arises to alter the existing distribution of power even if this may jeopardize their own security. In survival it is important to protect the state at all cost even if this may sacrifice ones own citizens and this becomes a burden for state leaders. Henry Kissinger said that a nations survival is its first and ultimate responsibility; it cannot be compromised or put to risk. Thus, their guide must be an ethic of responsibility, which is the careful weighing of the consequences.

Self-help The process of seeking power for security of the state may create insecurity from other states and doubt as to whether the action is only for defensive purposes or offensive purposes. This makes it difficult for one state to trust another state and look at its intention positively. For this reason, one state must not rely on another or other institution for the guarantee of their survival.

III. Application of Realism The Cold War has been the era of Realism as it has brought upon the notion of Balance of Power and that both superpowers having an arms race or a nuclear stockpile can bring about a long lasting peace. The more recent applications of Realism can be seen through the events of the Gulf War and the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.

Realist point of view in different scenarios: Issue/Event Gulf War (1991) and Invasion of Iraq (2003) Point of view Iraq and United States were acting out of their respective state interests. Pre-emptive Strike Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) U.S. acting as World Police U.S. proved that the state is the sole actor by going against the UNs decision not to invade Iraq Cold War Balance of Power Proxy Wars Nuclear Proliferation Arms Race

References: Baylis, J., Owens, P., Smith, S. (2008). The globalization of world politics. Oxford, NY. Mingst, K. (1999). Essentials of international relations. New York, NY.