International relations essay in 6 hrs [urgent] 1300 words

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ORealismintroduction-11.ppt
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MAIN THEORETICAL APPROACHES

REALISM

LIBERALISM

CONSTRUCTIVISM

REALISM

  • Introduction: types of realism
  • The concept of power
  • How much power
  • Balance of power
  • Offensive realism
  • Concluding remarks

REALISM

Different descriptions of realism:

  • Power politics

  • “The billiard ball model”

REALISM

Well known realist thinkers

  • Thucydides
  • Niccolo Machiavelli
  • Hans Morgenthau
  • Henry Kissinger
  • Kenneth Waltz
  • John Mearsheimer

REALISM

A variety of realisms

  • Classical realism

  • Structural realism (neorealism)
  • Defensive realism
  • Offensive realism

REALISM

Classical realism:

  • Human nature is aggressive

  • Human aggregates (i.e., states) are aggressive too

REALISM

Structural realism: Assumptions

1. Anarchy (an-w/out archy-leader)

2. Inherent offensive military capability

3. Physical survival as primary goal

4. Uncertainty about other states' intentions

5. Rational calculation about survival in the international system

REALISM

1. The international system
is anarchic

  • No world governmental authority to enforce agreements among states

  • But not chaotic and with no order in it

REALISM

Anarchy is an ordering principle

  • there is no ultimate arbiter that stands above states (opposite to hierarchy –
    the ordering principle of domestic politics)

REALISM

It is impossible to set up a genuine world government

  • States would not give up their sovereignty to an international body

REALISM

The absence of a central (overriding) authority

  • States come to rely on power

  • States seek to maintain or increase their positions relative to other states

REALISM

2. States inherently poses some offensive military capability

  • The capacity to hurt and possibly to destroy each other

REALISM

3. States' primary goal is survival

  • The central characteristic of the modern state is that it has a defined territory

  • States want to maintain their

survival = sovereignty

REALISM

There are two types of sovereignty relating to states

  • Internal sovereignty: authority within a given territory and over a given people

  • External sovereignty ability to act independently in international affairs (e.g. to make alliances, declare wars and so on)

REALISM

4. Uncertainty

  • States can never be certain about other states' intentions

  • States want to know whether other states are revisionist or status quo states

REALISM

5. States think rationally (strategically)

  • Anticipating behavior of other states based on rational calculations

  • States are capable of coming up with sound strategies that maximize their prospects for survival

REALISM