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DEPARTMENT: Political & Cultural Studies

STUDENT NUMBER: 834219

MODULE CODE/TITLE: PO-203/ Anarchy & Order: Theories in International Relations

ASSIGNMENT TITLE: Précis

WORD COUNT: 519

LECTURER/TUTOR: Luca Trenta

DEADLINE: 23/10/2015 (4pm)

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Kenneth N Waltz’s article Structural Realism after the Cold War contends the notion that the concept of realism has died out post-Cold War, arguing that it is still relevant. The basis of his argument is that realism has not ceased to exist simply because there is an environment of peace, and recognizes three developments in political transformation that certain scholar’s claim renders realism a bygone, but concludes that despite these changes, realism remains useful as a basic theory of International Relations. The Richness of the Tradition of Political Realism by Robert G. Gilpin is, similar to Waltz’s article, a defence of realism, in particular responding to the criticisms of neo-realism made by Richard Ashley, who claims that neo-realism concepts are a ‘false and dangerous way of thinking’.

Acknowledging the ‘democratic wave’ that took place post-Cold War, Waltz contends the democratic peace thesis which denotes that democracies do not fight other democracies by pointing out that liberal democracies have been willing to wage war against other liberal democracies, and have not been averted due to reluctance but for fear of a third party, a reason which he clearly points out, is basic realism. An example used for this is in 1898 when Britain & France had territorial dispute over the land of Fashoda, war was averted due to the threat of Germany, not because of unwillingness for war. Despite using an example that is pre-Cold War era, this point successfully identifies a realist response, thus contradicting the democratic peace thesis. Just as Waltz considers three modern developments of political occurrences, Gilpin, referring to past work, addresses three aspects of contemporary development to contradict Ashley’s charges, those being the emergence of a superpower (a circumstance that is said to have triggered both WW2 and the Cold War), the movement toward regional integration and the proliferation of new nation states and secession movements in older nation states. He goes on to suggest that these developments mean that the political entities of this era may yet to be determined.

Whilst Waltz asserts defensive realism (states should hold an appropriate amount of power in order to not appear as a threat to other states), a concept that he developed in his previous work Theory of International Politics, Gilpin leans towards Mearsheimer’s belief in offensive realism (states attempt to garner as much power as possible in order to become regional hegemons), as demonstrated when he discusses the association between political hegemony and economic liberalism, as well as strongly emphasizing that as well as economic efficiency, political hegemony is a ‘necessary ingredient’ to promote a more liberal world economy.

Having considered post-Cold War developments, Waltz concludes that claims of structural realisms’ departure are invalid, and unless a somewhat drastic transformation transpires, realism continues to be the basic theory of international politics. Alternatively, Gilpin concludes his article in somewhat agreement with his adversary, in that he values liberal qualities such as individualism, liberty and human rights, however he goes on to point out, as his article indicated, that moral scepticism and a greater capacity for reason ‘constitutes the essence of realism’, a view which he himself holds.

ReferencesGilpin, R. G. (1984) ‘The richness of the tradition of political realism’,International Organization, 38(02), p. 287. doi: 10.1017/s0020818300026710.

Waltz, K. N. (2000) ‘Structural Realism after the Cold War’, International Security, 25(1), pp. 5–41. doi: 10.1162/016228800560372.