StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

International Relations Theory - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The most coherent and useful theory is that which assumes that states matter more than any other global entity. The realism theory is a coherent theory which simplifies one's understanding of the world. The theory's parsimony accounts for much of world politics…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER96.4% of users find it useful
International Relations Theory
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "International Relations Theory"

Download file to see previous pages

Realism helps us see how the lack of hierarchy in authority at the systemic level creates rules that confine the choices available to states. Similarly, the emphasis on power explains why some states are more successful in achieving their goals than are others. This approach to world politics called realism has a long, distinguished history and offers a coherent, parsimonious explanation for much of what goes on across the globe. Realism theory is different from liberalism and postinternationalism.

Liberalism promotes the freedom to pursue economic gain, liberty to participate in the affairs of public life, respect for political human rights, and minimal government. Postinternationalism comes from the presumption that accelerating change and deepening complexity are the major tendencies at work in the world. Realism, liberalism, and postinternational polaics paradigms have some common elements but they also rest on different and contradictory, premises. Hans Morgenthau (1948) first expounded a theory on international relations which explained the past and current events and which will be the likely direction and shape of future relations.

Morgenthau's ideas is similar to writings on world politics and represented continuity with the past. The realist approach stems from Thucydides, the chronicler of the ancient Peloponnesian War, who wrote, "The strong do what they have the power to do, the weak accept what they have to accept." Thucydides pushed for a first-class navy and the wealth of empire gave an edge to Athens. (Thucydides, 1978). It was "the growth of Athenian power and the fear this caused in Sparta" that, in Thucydides' opinion, caused the war.

The fact of Athenian power and the fact, known to his readers, that Athens ultimately lost the war creates a terrible tension in his book. (Robert Connor, 1984). Athens, a powerful state lost the war because it overextended itself and fell victim to its own sense of grandeur. Its citizens forgot the necessity for moderation and denigrated the virtues of taking justice as well as advantage into their political calculations. Power, as expressed in ships and money, and the moral character of the warring cities accounted for the final outcome of the war.

Power holds the two strands of realism that have evolved in the modern era. Traditional realism, which evolved in the 1930s and in the post-World War II period, is a form of realism grounded in a view of human nature. It points out that humans are self-interested, rational, and seek power; qualities that lead to the consistent, regular behavior of states. Traditional realism holds that we live in "a world of opposing interests and of conflict among them, moral principles can never be fully realized, but must at best be approximated through the ever temporary balancing of interest and the very precarious settlement of disputes.

" (Buzan, et.al., 1984). Neorealism or structural realism, highlights the structure of the international system rather than human nature to account for the behavior of states. Individual preference does not particularly count, since the individuals themselves do not matter a great deal in explaining the behavior of states. This theory proposes that the lack of central authority in the international system causes states to behave the way they do. The set-up of the international system forces states to attend not just to their own interests but to any changes in the power of other states.

Realism

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“International Relations Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1530649-international-relations-theory
(International Relations Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words)
https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1530649-international-relations-theory.
“International Relations Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1530649-international-relations-theory.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF International Relations Theory

International Relations Theory Book Review on The Pentagons New Map by Thomas P.M. Barnett

An analysis of the manifestations of disconnection and alienation has required major world powers to reorient their political, military and diplomatic strategies on the international level.... Disconnection and alienation are two processes that have been much discussed in many academic disciplines, from a philosophical perspective as well as a sociological one....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

International Relations Theory Human Rights Formal

This paper "International Relations Theory Human Rights Formal" discusses understanding our human rights to be and how we use them to shape the kind of society we live in.... hellip; Such projects include a push for treaties that prohibit antipersonnel landmines, outlaw reliance on nuclear weaponry and establish an international criminal court.... After the drafting and adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, to which all the countries of the world subscribe, at least rhetorically, the modern international human rights system developed slowly within the constraints of the Cold War....
7 Pages (1750 words) Term Paper

Neo-Liberalism as a Fundamental New Approach in International Relations Theory

The paper "Neo-Liberalism as a Fundamental New Approach in International Relations Theory" discusses that neo-liberalism played an important part in supporting the relatively weaker economies in the global structure through the conception of International Financial Institutions.... nbsp;… The main points that are attached to the concept of neoliberalism in relation to International Relations Theory are that the States is one of the many actors in an economy that are complex and yet rational....
5 Pages (1250 words) Coursework

International Relations Theory Application

The "International Relations Theory Application" paper is an exercise to test the author's ability to apply a theory to a historical case.... he proposition means that democratic peace as a concept in international relations will promote peace.... Our proposition is a theory from Russett  who said, “Democracies rarely fight each other (an empirical statement) because they have other means of resolving conflicts between them and therefore do need to fight each other (a prudential statement)....
8 Pages (2000 words) Term Paper

Securitisation and the International Relations Theory

In this paper, "Securitisation and the International Relations Theory" the author will regard the issue of securitization and its place in the sphere of international relations and how this question was broadened and deepened over the last several decades.... nbsp;  The other aspects under investigation in this paper are the importance of the notion of security to the theory of international relations and its application to the facilitation of the process of international communication....
14 Pages (3500 words) Assignment

International Relations Theory and the War on Terror

"International Relations Theory and the War on Terror" paper persuasively argues that International Relations Theory can and explains the War on Terror.... Accordingly, realism as an explanatory theory of international relations is the theory most applicable to the present international order.... hellip; Realism, a positive theory that seeks to explain the international order, remains arguably the most important theory in international relations today....
9 Pages (2250 words) Coursework

French Revolution in International Relations Theory

The essay "French Revolution in International Relations Theory" focuses on the analysis of the key approaches of realism, liberalism, and critical theory to provide an in-depth understanding of the French Revolution.... Thus, studying the French Revolution is crucial for International Relations Theory to comprehend the political development of the most powerful continent at that time.... hellip; Started in 1789, the French Revolution was an unprecedented event in the international system of that time....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Does Liberalism Have a Future in International Relations Theory

"Does Liberalism Have a Future in International Relations Theory" paper explains the general idea of liberalism and examines whether liberalism has a future in the theory of international relations?... nbsp;  The liberal theory does not dismiss power as one of the most important factors that determine the nature of international relations, but apart from power, it incorporates ideology, morality as well as emotions such as mutual identity and friendship....
9 Pages (2250 words) Coursework
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us