INR3003 Exam 1 May 12 Info given before the outline Historical Intellectual Realists Thucydides Niccolo Machiavelli Thomas Hobbes Carl von Clausewitz o Modern IA study began after the two world wars o Modern IA theory was developed to understand WHY major power wars occurred to prevent them from happening again o Realism comes first then liberalism then constructivism Constructivism isn t really a theory yet All three are based on assumptions expectations All use history to provide evidence Realism o The dominant perspective through the cold war o Often connected to the quest for power o Often associated with realpolitik power politics o Recent shift with a new focus on security to guarantee the survival of the state o Realists only look at the state system Primary actor in IA IA organizations only serve the state 1 Classical Realism o The INTIAL version o The father is Hans Morgenthau o Created during Politics Among Nations in 1948 o Called realists because they thought they had the REALISTIC understanding of everything o It was REACTION TO IDEALISM The architect of American Idealism was Woodrow Wilson He conceived the idea of the League of Nations Idealists believed the system was flawed but thought it could be fixed Resulting in the League of Nations Idealism s Recipe for Peace o Improve communication of states o Respect sovereign rights of states o Respect democracy 1 Realists thought this was not realistic Morgenthau believed the states wanted power Which was likely to lead to conflict action reaction model Realists believed the best way to avoid war were to prepare for war o Seen in the U S government Classical realists placed influence on state leaders o Ex an evil leader an evil state o State is the reflection of its leader Classical realism dominated until the 1970 s 2 Neo Realism It moved away from power politics and towards security The shift comes with Kenneth Waltz He called neo realism structural realism Neo is the DOMINANT modern form Neo is not concerned with leaders They believe it is the structure of the system that helps us to understand behavior Ex Not Hitler but Germany as a country s growing power Key assumptions of neo realism Interested in the security dilemma o States are rational unitary actors each act individually o States seek security for survival o Anarchy no global power over the states Self help states help themselves there is no global authority o States are not likely to act collectively they are selfish Need a balance of power for a low chance of power wars o Alliances realists believe they can be good but do not trust others Only good Small states are eager to form with large states o Bandwagoning weak powers seeking alliances with major powers for their if it serves the state own protection Realists believe this leads to war because the small is showing its Ex Song Dynasty bandwagon with Jurchen then larger took over weaknesses to the large most of the state o Balancing realists say this is the expected behavior of states Polarity 1 Uni Polarity Hegemonic Stability Theory a One major power b Been here since the cold war c Believe one state is so powerful no one will attack them 2 Bi Polarity realists prefer this a Ex cold war vs the soviet union b Balanced world 2 c The 2 equally strong powers offset each other 3 Multi polarity a Ex United States China and Europe b Most realists don t like this c Too much room for error How do realists view cooperation with other states o Don t reject diplomacy o Speak softly but carry a big stick Roosevelt Prisoner s Dilemma realist mindset is to ALWAYS CONFESS Relative Gains vs Absolute Gains o Relative zero sums realists prefer this o Absolute everyone gets something a non zero sum Involves compromise Realism and the Origins of Major Power Wars 1 WWI 1 Germany and the Security Dilemma Run by Bismarck who practiced power politics Result was Unification 2 Balance of power and reasons for its demise 2 Interwar to WWII Balance of power was due to the alliance system Power transition theory realists believe this is a vulnerable time where you are likely to have war Declining power does whatever it can do to stay powerful and the upper power tries to prove itself Russia and Preventative War Germany becoming strong and at its apex Germany was preventing Russia from rising up Europe in 1919 lack of balance of power who was the leader The League of Nations was in spirit of cooperation by Wilson o The U S was not in it o Realists think it was a naive idea o Japan took over in 1931 condemned by League so they left no one had the power to keep them in it o Italy tried to expand in Ethiopia in 1935 Leagued condemned them but nothing happened Munich Conference about Sudetenland o Germany got in in 1938 o Case of appeasement o Why No balance of power o Gave Germany the ability to rise o Action reaction again Realists say that Germany was a revisionist state o They wanted to revise the system o Mearsheimer s viewpoint included 5 assumptions i We live in anarchy no global power to control 3 ii Great powers posses offensive military power may use this to destroy each other iii States can never be certain about another state s intentions which breeds insecurity iv Survival is the primary goal v They are rational actors and will calculate what they must do to ensure survival Why did WWII happen o Because we naively think we can create peace through an international organization o Liberals have a different idea 3 The Cold War Erupts o Big 3 at Yalta Feb 1945 o Realists do not think ideology matters they ignore domestic institutions o Agreed that each country would administer the country it liberated o Four territories going for Berlin Soviet France British and American o 1948 French British American wanted to merge their German sections So the Soviet blocked off Berlin causing Berlin airlift o 1949 official division of Germany as a result o West Germany Federal Republic of Germany o East Germany German Democratic Republic o This division was the official start of the cold war Two sides made military alliances Gave us a bi polar world with equilibrium No one made the first move Caused 2 regiments which did not want a competing power o REALISTS SAY we had the cold war because of the structure of the system two regiments in the same region May 14 Realism and the Cold War 1 Nature and the Cold War o Arms races tend to escalate high likelihood of war or security dilemmas o A NUCLEAR arms race is a game changer o Too dangerous to
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