IR Theories: Realism

IR Theories: Realism

🌐 Core Themes +

• National interest defined in terms of power is the basis of IR and global politics.
• Interest and power are signposts of politics.
• Statism: States are the main actors in IR.
• International state system is anarchic; states survive by self-help.
• No idealism, universal morality, benevolence, or altruism in IR.
• Politics is autonomous of universal moral principles.

⚙️ Features of Realism +

• 3 'S': Statism, Survival, Self-Help
• States pursue 'security maximization' or 'power maximization'.
• Balance of Power: Power must be balanced among states.
• Security Dilemma (John Herz): Lack of trust increases tension.
• States are rational actors, pursuing interests not morality.

📜 Classical Realism +

• Father: Hans Morgenthau
• Book: Politics Among Nations (1948)
• 6 Principles of Realism
• Based on competitive and egoistic human nature.
• Interest and power guide politics; national interest decides foreign policy.
• Other thinkers: Thucydides, Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, E.H. Carr, Arnold Wolfers

🏛️ Neo-Realism / Structural Realism +

• Propounded by Kenneth Waltz – Theory of International Politics (1979)
• Focus on anarchic structure of international system and variation in powers.
• States aim for security; power is means to security.
• Offensive Neo-Realism: maximize power for domination/hegemony (John Mearsheimer).
• Defensive Neo-Realism: moderate policies to achieve security.
• Structural modifiers: security dilemma, geography, elite beliefs.
• Thinkers: Kenneth Waltz, Robert Jervis, John Herz, Stephen Walt, Jack Snyder

🎓 Main Thinkers & Works +

• Classical Realism:
  • Thucydides – Melian Dialogue
  • Machiavelli – The Prince
  • Thomas Hobbes – Leviathan
  • Hans Morgenthau – Politics Among Nations
  • E.H. Carr – The Twenty Years' Crisis (1939)
• Neo-Realism:
  • Kenneth Waltz – Man, the State, and War (1959), Theory of International Politics (1979)
  • John Mearsheimer – The Tragedy of Great Power (2001)
  • Robert Kaplan – The Coming Anarchy, Asia's Cauldron
  • Robert Jervis – Perception and Misperception in International Politics
  • Reinhold Niebuhr – Christian Realism; Moral Man and Immoral Society (1932), Nature and Destiny of Man (1939)