17 41 s18 lecture2: realism - mit opencourseware · international politics is the struggle for...
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Realism
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Watterson, Bill. The Complete Calvin and Hobbes. Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2012. © Andrews McMeel Publishing. All rights reserved. This content is excluded from our Creative Commons license. For more information, see https://ocw.mit.edu/help/faq-fair-use/. 2
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Great power conflict? • 2018: New National Defense Strategy (NDS)
released by the Pentagon
• Top threat: Russia and China
• “We face growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia ... nations that do seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models,” -Defense Secretary James Mattis
• “China is a strategic competitor using predatory economics to intimidate its neighbors while militarizing features in the South China Sea”
• “Russia has violated the borders of nearby nations and pursues veto power over the economic, diplomatic, and security decisions of its neighbors"
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Realism
Thucydides sums up Realism pretty well: • “Strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they
must.”
History is the story of war interspersed with periods of preparation for war
Realism Motto: Nature red in tooth and claw
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Peer discussion
If you had to sum up Realism in three or four key words (besides war!), what would they be?
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Anarchy
Critical concept!
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Not necessarily anarchy
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Anarchy
When the term anarchy is used in international relations, we mean only that the international system has no power or actor over the states that can force the states to adhere to particular set of rules or code of behavior.
Contrast this with the situation inside states.
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© Source unknown. All rights reserved. This content is excluded from our Creative Commons license. For more information, see https://ocw.mit.edu/help/faq-fair-use/.
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Realism
Core elements of realism: the three S’s (and one z) • Statism • Survival • Self-help • Zero-sum
International politics is the struggle for power 10
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Statism Inside the state: struggle for order and security resolved.
State is the primary guarantor of the domestic structures that generate and perpetuate order and security
Accordingly, the State is the primary interface between the order and security of internal society and the disorder and insecurity of the external system.
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Survival
Anthropomorphization of the State
State as the individual who seeks to remain alive
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Self-Help States can only rely on themselves to ensure survival
Gives rise to the Security Dilemma • Derived from the zero-sum nature of the world: To
ensure one’s own security is to undermine thesecurity of the other, since one’s gains isanother’s loss.
• The security dilemma drives a spiral of distrust and uncertainty that drives political and militaryconflict.
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Rousseau’s parable: the stag hunt
Analogy for the international system
Five hungry people meet one day • Hunger can be satiated two ways: ⅕ of a stag or 1 hare • To catch a stag, all five must work together, but much better
than each trying to catch hares on their own. No guarantee on either
• All five agree to work together. • They find a stag and work to corner it…suddenly one of the
people finds a sleeping hare. Quickly thinking, he realizes it is in his interest to abandon the stag hunt and eat the hare.
• The other 4 go hungry…
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Zero Sum Security in the international system is a fixed and limited quantity.
Each state has some amount of security.
Security gains by one state necessarily results in a decrease in security in other states
Zero sum = a pie. The bigger my slice, the smaller yours
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Classical Realism
Major thinkers: Thucydides, Machiavelli, Rousseau, Morgenthau
Drive for power arises out of human nature.
Variation in the perception of the need to moderate drive for power. Modern theorists in the tradition argue for wise leadership and the pursuit of national interests that are compatible with international order.
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Structural or Neo-Realism
Looks to the structure of the international system • International system: Anarchy | Domestic system: hierarchy
Kenneth Waltz (1979): Theory of International Politics • Three critical variables explain international
outcomes Organizing principle: anarchy Differentiation of units: None, all units are states (alike) Distribution of capabilities: POWER!
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Distribution of Capabilities Critical variable for understanding international outcomes • Organizing principle and differentiation of units are invariant. • Only distribution of capabilities changes over time, producing
changes in the international syste Number of great powers in the system dictates the type of system and the propensity for war • Multipolar: Least stable international order (difficult to
maintain balance of power, miscommunications, etc.) • Unipolar: moderately unstable international order • Bipolar: most stable international order (easiest to maintain
balance of power)
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Defensive Realism Typified by Waltz
State want as much power as they need to ensure security
Security, not power, is the primary goal
States with sufficient security are status quo states and seek to maintain sufficient defensive power to ensure security.
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Offensive Realism Typical thinker: John Mearsheimer (U of Chicago)
States want as much power as possible; anarchy requires the maximization of relative power
No status quo states
Best position is global hegemon, but such a position is impossible, thus the world condemned to endless great power competition.
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Where are the 3 S’s?
Statism is clear: Both Defensive and Offensive Realists only talk about States
Survival: tied directly to Self-Help
How to guarantee survival? Balancing • Internal balancing: arms buildup security dilemma • External balancing: balance of power, alliances
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Science and Realism
This is the most ‘scientific’ of the variants of Realism claims validity across time and space. •
• The laws of international relations it describes are applicable no matter the time frame of the location we choose to discuss.
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Neoclassical Realism
Typical thinkers: Randall Schweller, Stephen Walt
Critical of Structural Realism: Too Parsimonious
Need to bring in domestic level factors Perceptions of leaders (Obama versus Bush) State Strength Motivations of State
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Power
Critical to the Realist approach
What do we mean when we talk about power? Power is both relational and relative Traditionally defined in terms of military capabilities
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Peer Discussion
Why might both military power and capabilities be problematic as measures of power?
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Morality
Is there space for morality in Realism?
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17.41 Introduction to International Relations Spring 2018
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