Kissing Cousins: Nationalism and Realism John J. Mearsheimer University of Chicago May 5, 2011 This paper was prepared for the Yale Workshop on International Relations. As it represents my preliminary thinking on the subject, please do not quote from it without my permission.1 Kissing Cousins: Nationalism and Realism Nationalism is not a key component of any realist theory. Yet most realists appear to believe that nationalism has been an especially powerful force in international politics. E.H. Carr and Jack Snyder, for example, have each written books on the subject, and Barry Posen and Stephen Van Evera have written important articles about nationalism.1 Robert Pape argues that nationalism is the key concept for understanding the causes of suicide terrorism.2 Both Hans Morgenthau and Walter Lippmann emphasized the importance of Asian nationalism over communism when they argued against American involvement in the Vietnam War.3 Similarly, many realists who opposed the March 2003 invasion of Iraq argued that Iraqi nationalism would help prevent the United States from winning a quick and decisive victory. It seems clear that there must be some affinity between nationalism and realism, even if nationalism is not a key variable in realist theory. The aim of this paper is to explore the relationship between these two isms. As every student of international politics knows, there are numerous theories of nationalism as well as realism. No two realists, for example, have identical theoretical perspectives on the workings of the international system. Nevertheless, there are certain essential features of world politics that are incorporated into almost all realist theories. The same is true regarding nationalism. I am not concerned with examining the differences among the various theories in each literature or making the case for any particular theory of nationalism or realism. Instead, my goal is to focus on the important features of2 nationalism and realism that are common to both bodies of theory. Putting the spotlight on the overlapping attributes of these two isms allows me to talk about nationalism and realism as if they were each a single theory. Of course, they are not, but that does not matter much for my purposes. Turning from theory to practice, there is little question that nationalism is a real-world phenomenon. It is commonplace to talk about nationalism as a powerful force in everyday life that shapes politics within and among states. However, realism is not a real-world phenomenon like nationalism. Instead, realism is a term reserved for a school of thought that purports to explain how states interact with each other. The real-world phenomenon that realists see at play and seek to explain is power politics. Specifically, they maintain that states usually act according to the logic of realist theory, which is to say that states compete with each other for power. In other words, realists believe that international relations is in good part power politics at play. Therefore, when I move beyond the theoretical discussion of how nationalism and realism relate to each other and focus on real-world events, I will use somewhat different terminology and talk instead about the links between nationalism and power politics. Insofar as realist theory purports to explain the latter, however, it should be clear that I am still exploring the relationship between realism and nationalism. I offer three sets of arguments. First, I try to show that there are important similarities between nationalism and realism at the foundational level. Both theories are particularistic, not universalistic, and each privileges two key concepts:3 the state and survival. To illustrate this resemblance between nationalism and realism, I contrast them with liberalism and Marxism. Second, I attempt to show that nationalism and power politics are actually intertwined phenomena that affect each other in significant ways, and this interaction has played a central role in creating the modern state system. Third, I try to explain how nationalism has had a profound effect on various aspects of international politics that are central to the realist enterprise. In particular, I will explain how nationalism affects the balance of power, the conduct of war, the likelihood of war, and the probability that threatened states will balance against their adversaries, not bandwagon with them. SHARED ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT POLITICS Nationalism and realism are particularistic theories at their most basic level. They both assume that the key actors in the world are autonomous units that interact with each other as a matter of course. Because those interactions can be either beneficial or harmful, the units pay careful attention to how the behavior of the other units affects their own interests. Each unit has the right as well as the responsibility to pursue its own interests, even if it is done at the expense of the other units’ interests. This privileging of one’s own welfare sometimes leads the units to attempt to harm or even destroy other units. This selfish behavior notwithstanding, the units are not hostile toward each other in all instances and they certainly are not in a constant state of war. In fact, they sometimes cooperate with each other. Nevertheless, every unit knows that there is always the possibility that another unit will threaten it. Because the4 possibility of conflict is always present, the units worry about their survival, even when there is no imminent threat. Survival is not the only goal for the units, of course, but it must be their highest goal for the obvious reason that if a unit does not survive, it cannot pursue those other goals. Both realists and most theorists of nationalism also believe that there is little that the units can do to change or transcend this world. The central unit of analysis for realism is the state, which is the most powerful political institution in the world. In contrast, the nation is the main unit of analysis for nationalism. Nations are intensely political actors for sure, but they must operate through specific political institutions to acquire and exercise power. The key institution for nations is the state, because it is so powerful relative to other political institutions. Indeed, their survival is inextricably bound up with the state, which is why each nation would prefer to have its own