REALISM IN IR

Introduction

Realism (also known as "Political Realism" or "Realpolitik") has by far proved to be the most
influential theory in explaining the nature of world politics.
Reason being -
its ability to provide the most powerful explanation for the state of war, which
characterizes the regular condition of life in the international system.

Emergence -
emerged as the dominant international perspective only during the 20th Century. More
specifically, it emerged in its modern form largely in reaction to idealism.

Key concepts

National Interest-

the most important analytic category in explaining and predicting the course of
international behaviour.

Hans Morgentheau has been a systematic and consistent supporter of the prenise that
diplomatic strategy or foreign policy should be motivated by national interest rather than by
ideological considerations.
- He equates national interest with the pursuit of
state power.
-The concept of national interest is intricately intertwined with the question of national
survival.

National Power -

The Realists make two important points about the concept of power.

-First, power is a relational concept in the sense that one does not exercise power in a
vacuum but always in relation to another entity.

-Second,power is seen as a relative concept .What it means is that in the international

system it may not be enough to calculate one's own power capabilities, but also the power
of other states.
Realist treatment of power relates to its exclusive focus upon state power.

For Realists, states are the only actors that really "count".

National Security-

classical Realists like Machiavelli, Meinecke, and Weber attach top priority to national
security or survival.
Theory of Conflict

-Conflict constitutes the core of the Realist approach.

It is around this (perceived) basic reality of perpetual conflict along the states in the
international system that the entire Realist theory is built.

-This inherently conflicting nature of human behaviour, according to the Realists, leads to
constant struggle for power among them.
- The issue of national interest understood in terms of state survival leads to a
constant struggle for power along the states. As is evident from Hans Morgenthau's classic
statement in ‘Politics Among Nations: The Struggle ,for Power and Peace.’

Theory of Balance of Power

Realists argue that security can only be realized through self-help.

As Waltz notes, -'in an anarchic structure, self-help is necessarily the principle of action".

States find it extremely difficult to trust one another and often suspect the intentions of
others.
It is with a view to escape this security dilemma that the theory of balance of power
becomes important.

Balance of power is all about fashioning a pattern of

interaction amongst states that tend to curb aggression and expansionism by rendering
them impracticable.
each time the balance of power breaks down, it is inevitably followed by a war.

Theory of Deterrence

The theory of deterrence is a new name for balance of power in the modem nuclear
age. Also known as "nuclear diplomacy"

- it came into existence during the period of Cold War.

deterrence is based on the assumption that in a nuclear age possession of nuclear weapons
by one state or one block of states would deter the enemy state or the enemy camp from
making first use of the nuclear option in the course of a likely war.

As noted by Charles W. Kegley Jr., "the game of international politics takes place under
conditions of permanent anarchy and revolves around the pursuit of power: acquiring it,
increasing it, protecting it, and using it to bend others to
one's will".
CLASSICAL REALISM

BACKGROUND

Due to the crises of the 1930s, ‘Idealism’ gave a way to ‘Realism’.

Classical Realism represents a whole worldview of international politics encompassing

several generations of theorists ranging from Thucydides, Machiavelli, and E.H. Carr to Hbs J.
Morgenthau, the most famous high priest of post-war Realism.

MAIN DIMENSION

The central argument of classical Realism rests on the assumption that international
politics is driven by an endless struggle for power,' which has its root in human nature. In
this framework, justice, law, and society have either no place or are circumscribed.

they argue that to survive, states must increase their power by internal development such as
in the economic system, technological, diplomatic and military means.

FEATURES

Classical Realism, as a school of thought, became fashionable more particularly during the
inter-war period.What distinguishes this genre of scholars from others is their shared belief
in an essentially
-pessimistic view of human nature.
-the drive for power and the will to dominate are treated as the fundamental traits of
human nature.

Convinced of the unchanging human nature, classical Realists are highly pessimistic with
regard to the possibility of any qualitative transformation of world politics.

-they tend to rely much more upon conventional principles of diplomacy and mechanisms-
such as balance of power, international morality and world public opinion, and international
law-for regulating and restraining the inevitable clashes of interests between
states.

Due to the desire to maximize their gains, human beings are likely to act irrationally as they
are naive, gullible and can be easily manipulated.

-Classical realists also argued that the basic structure of International politics is one of
anarchy because
each of the independent sovereign states consider themselves to be their own highest
authority.

International relations is about survival rather than pursuit of ‘good life’.

HANS MORGENTHEAU -

Morgenthau’s classical realism, which borrowed heavily from Reinhold Neiburh’s

Augustinian pessimism, emphasized the universal animus dominandi in men (and by
extension of states), which gave rise to competition and war, unless disciplined through
efficient balance of power arrangements worked out by ingenuous diplomacy.

I. First Principle: Politics is governed by Objective Laws which have roots in Human Nature

For knowing the objective laws of human nature,

-we must analyze the facts of human relations.

-Human nature is fairly constant and therefore a review of the history of human relations
and actions can help us to know these objective laws.
-History of human relations can provide us facts for understanding politics.

2.Second Principle:National Interest defined in terms of National Power:

A national interest not backed by power exists only on paper and in imagination.
Nations always try to secure the goals of their interests which are always defined in terms of
power.

-the foreign policy of a nation is always based upon considerations of national interest
conceived in terms of national power.

The second principle of Morgenthau’s Realist Theory is projected as the master key to
international politics.

3. Third Principle:Interest is always Dynamic.

the content of national interest is always changing in nature and scope.

It is not static.

It changes with changes in political and social environment.The national power of

a nation is always dynamic and it changes with the changes in environment in which it
operates for securing national interests.

national interest defined in terms of national power has to be repeatedly and

continuously analyzed for realistically analyzing the course of international relations.

4. Fourth Principle:Abstract Moral Principles cannot be applied to Politics

Political realism realizes the importance of moral principles but holds that in their abstract
and universal formulations these cannot be applied to state actions.
The moral significance of political action is undisputed but the universal moral
principles cannot be applied to the actions of states.

5.Fifth Principle:Difference between Moral Aspirations of a Nation and the Universal Moral
Principles

It refuses to accept that the national interests and policies of any

particular nation reflect universally applied moral principles.

Each nation tries to cover its national interests under the cloak of several moral principles.
Nations are actors engaged in securing their respective national interests and are not the
followers of moral laws.
The moral laws that govern the universe do not apply to their actions.

6.Sixth Principle:Autonomy of International Politics:

Political realism has its distinctive intellectual and moral attitude towards political matters.
It maintains the autonomy of the political sphere.

CRITICISM

1) Neither Fully Empirical and nor Fully Logical:

His empiricism is crude and impressionistic and his logic is one sided and partial.

2) A Partial Approach:

To define politics as a struggle for power generated by the conflict of interest is to

make conflict of interests the sole determinant of international politics. This is a partial and
one-sided out-look. It ignores the role of values in international relations.

3) Unscientific:

Many critics have held that Morgenthau’s theory is unscientific in so far as it has its roots
in a particular view of human nature. There can be no scientific theory of human nature.

4) Guilty of Power Monism:

Another valid point of criticism against Morgenthau’s Realist theory has been
that it gives unduly big, rather total importance to a single factor— national interest defined
in terms of power.

5)Little Importance to Morality:

He advocates that no nation really bases its policies on morality and no

nation should do it.